Tag Archives: recycling

Dame Zandra Rhodes Leads the Charge for a Stylish Spring Clean

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The much-loved British fashion icon has created an exclusive print for Recycle Your Electricals. The campaign aims to get UK households to stop throwing away or hoarding their small old electricals and start doing something useful with them, like donating or recycling them.

recycling, electrics, electrical, phones, toaster, Zandra Rhodes,

The print appears on an ethically sourced, organic cotton tote bag featuring Dame Zandra’s trademark ‘Painted Lady Head’ illustration, with bold and colourful electrical items placed around it. Fans will instantly recognise the work of one of fashion’s most respected names. Profits from the sales of the bag will go to a cause close to Zandra’s heart, Waste Aid, which helps fight poverty, pollution, and climate change by sharing waste management and recycling skills in the world’s poorest places.

The bags will help Recycle Your Electricals launch this year’s Little Spring Clean campaign, which encourages UK householders to de-clutter and sort their unused household electricals, which are creating the world’s fastest growing waste stream. The totes are a handy and stylish way to help people recycle, by popping their electricals into the bag rather than a bin, ready to be taken to the nearest recycling point.

In the UK alone we are holding onto 527million small old electricals, and 155,000 tonnes of waste electricals are thrown away in general household rubbish each year. However, if the thrown away or hoarded electricals were recycled, 2.8 million tonnes of CO2 emission could be saved, equivalent to taking 1.3 million cars off the road. Any item with a plug, cable or battery can be recycled, such as mobile phones, laptops, hairdryers, speakers or irons.

A passionate campaigner for sustainability, Dame Zandra led the way for a greener approach to fashion, and living, before many others. With impeccable fashion credentials and an eye for stunning design that oozes personality and demands attention, there was no better person to support the campaign.

Dame Zandra Rhodes said, “I knew right away that Recycle Your Electricals was a campaign I wanted to get behind. I’ve been a huge advocate of zero-waste fashion for many years and really helped to get it on the radar of the general public. Now, we must also raise awareness of the problem of old electricals. Not many people know that they can, and should, be recycled or donated. I hope that people buy my charity tote, pop their electricals into the bag ready to be recycled, and organise their own ‘Little Spring Clean’ to help do something about this problem.”

Scott Butler, Executive Director, Material Focus the not for profit behind the Recycle Your Electricals campaign said:  “It’s wonderful to have Dame Zandra Rhodes on board for this campaign. Not only is she a champion of sustainability, but she is a true fashion icon. The bag she has designed is both useful and stylish and I hope it encourages everyone to organise their own Little Spring Clean and start recycling their unwanted electricals.” 

The Dame Zandra Rhodes exclusive print tote bags are available in light brown or white and cost £12 from www.shoprecycleyourelectricals.org.uk all profits go to Waste Aid. Pop your unwanted electricals into the bag before finding your nearest recycling or donation point at  www.recycleyourelectricals.org.uk

 

Millions of Brits admit to ignoring environmental concerns to make their lives easier

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At Frost we try to be as environmentally friendly as possible. Nobody is perfect however. Here are the things Brits try to do but end up ignoring. Come on everyone, I think we can do a little bit better.

 

Top 20 things Brits do because it’s more convenient than being green

1. Buy new batteries instead of rechargeable ones

2. Use a plastic straw

3. Pay for a 5p plastic bag instead of remembering your re-usable shopping bags

4. Put fresh fruit and veg in a plastic bag at the supermarket

5. Leave lights turned on when you aren’t in the room

6. Buy a plastic bottle of water instead of carrying one you can reuse

7. Leave plug sockets switched on even when they aren’t in use

8. Drive when you could have walked

9. Throw out plastic food packaging instead of washing it out to recycle it

10. Use a tumble dryer instead of hanging clothes on the line

11. Put something recyclable into the bin instead of sorting it into the right recycling box

12. Throw food away which could have been eaten or reused

13. Boil a full kettle for one cup of tea

14. Buy paint in plastic pots instead of metal, which can be recycled

15. Use a new coffee cup with your takeaway coffee instead of taking a reusable one

16. Still ask for paper bills when you could go paperless

17. Leave a tap running for a long time/ when you aren’t using it

18. Have the heating on while also having windows open

19. Leave the shower turned on when you aren’t it

20. Wash laundry on a hot wash when it didn’t need it

 

Millions of Brits admit to ignoring environmental concerns to make their lives easier, a study has found.

 

 

A poll of 2,000 adults found despite 87 per cent agreeing on the importance of being green, more than half believe it’s often ‘inconvenient’.

 

 

Three in 10 admit binning plastic food containers rather than washing them out and recycling it.

 

 

And 23 per cent have requested a paper bill when they could have gone ‘paperless’ – and had the receipt emailed to them instead.

 

 

Almost half pay for plastic bags with their shopping to save them having to remember to carry a reusable bag around, and 27 per cent often use a tumble dryer instead of hanging washing out to dry.

 

 

Others admit buying paint in a plastic pot rather than a metal can that can be recycled at most household waste and recycling centres.

 

 

Environmental concerns also go out the window amid boiling a kettle filled with more water than we need and having the heating turned up high all the time.

 

 

A spokesman for Metal Packaging Manufacturers Association, which commissioned the research, said: “Our results found the vast majority of Brits are keen on the idea of being green.

 

 

“Unfortunately, it often only takes the slightest inconvenience to knock all of the wind out of our sails and we wind up doing things that are easy – but not great for the planet.

 

 

“But we do also look to retailers and manufacturers to make it clear how we can be more environmentally friendly when we use their products.

 

 

“Those on-pack recycling logos and instructions clearly matter.”

 

 

The study also found a quarter of Brits have thrown food away which could have been eaten or reused in some way, and a third are happy to jump in the car when they could easily walk the distance.

 

 

More than half pick up disposable batteries rather than ones they need to recharge and 37 per cent have bought a bottle of water when they could have used one from home.

 

 

It also emerged a fifth of respondents would go as far as to say they feel that being environmentally and ecologically friendly is a ‘burden’ on their lives.

 

 

A quarter think it’s too expensive, and one in five simply don’t believe their contribution will make a difference to the future.

 

 

Others say they are ‘too busy’ to be green – or find it confusing.

 

 

However, 65 per cent of respondents do worry about the impact of people not being environmentally friendly on future generations.

 

 

Brits also admit to being far less environmentally friendly at work than they would be at home.

 

 

The research, carried out via OnePoll, also found almost 70 per cent believe retailers aren’t doing enough to present the recycling attributes of the products they sell.

 

 

Another 83 per cent believe retailers should make it crystal clear whether a packet, pot or parcel can be recycled or not.

 

 

And when buying a product such as paint, the recyclability of the container is often the third most influential factor – after the cost and quality of the product.

 

 

A Metal Packaging Manufacturers Association spokesman added: “Consumers want to be given the information to make an informed choice and not be misled into believing a pack is infinitely recycled when in fact it isn’t, as is often the case.

 

 

“Take paint cans. Empty plastic paint cans have a comparatively limited recycling life, while metal paint cans which can be recycled over and over with no loss of quality.

 

 

“The choice is yours.”

 

 

 

Terracycle Leads the Way in Tackling Recyclable Food Packaging

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plastic-bottles-115082_640recyclingWith concerns about the state of our environment continuing to grow, businesses and individuals around the globe are looking to reduce their carbon footprint and minimise the waste they generate in their daily production routines. With this in mind, American start-up Terracycle was launched back in 2002 by 19-year-old American student Tom Szaky and spread to the UK in 2009.

More than five years later, the recycling initiative has expanded to include more than a million of Britain’s inhabitants collecting almost 23 million units of rubbish and recycling them to raise £368,400 for charitable causes… and counting! Among other areas, food packaging has become one of the most lucrative sources of waste recycling, thanks to the forethought of Terracycle and some of their like-minded partners.

A coffee revolution

Who doesn’t start the day with a scalding hot mug of delicious coffee? Think of all of those coffee pods, though, and the foil packaging which contained them and the amount of waste produced every time they are throw into the rubbish bin. However, such needless profligacy can now be avoided by recycling old and used discs.

Environmentally conscious brand Tassimo has struck a deal with Terracycle to make all of their T-discs (and the outer foil wrapping that comes with them) 100% recyclable. Those wishing to participate don’t even need to clean them off before mailing the boxes in – the coffee grounds will be separated at the other end and composted separately, thus making it easy to get people involved. As for the foil and plastic itself, it will be cleaned off, chopped up and then transformed into practical items that we can all benefit from, such as park benches.

A biscuit with your beverage?

The perfect accompaniment to a gourmet coffee is a good old-fashioned biscuit – and they also make great partners in recycling, too. Cookie tycoons McVities are conducting a “Wrappers to Riches” initiative with Terracycle, in which recycling participants can earn money for a charity of their choice, as well as goody bags full of the biscuits.

The project is open to businesses, schools or individuals who simply need to send in their used wrappers and their names will be automatically entered into a prize draw for the charitable donations. The top two contributors who send in the most units will be awarded for their industry by receiving even more biscuits… whose wrappers they can recycle again! The converted material will be given another lease of life as tote bags, pencil cases and plastic lumber.

Ella-cycle

Baby food company Ella’s Kitchen have long been renowned for their environmentally friendly methods of organic production, but now they have gone one step farther by ensuring all of their packaging can be recycled in collaboration with Terracycle, as well.

Baby food pouches, caps and snack wrappers are sent in to the recycling plant. Here, they can be either kept intact and stitched together to form nifty-looking tote bags and pencil cases or shredded down into miniscule pieces and melded together to make place mats or trash cans.

Image credit.

 

 

Top 4 Ways You Can Make a Difference by Recycling

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You already know the reliable clink and clack of a bottle thrown into a recycling bin, but do you know the environmental impact? It’s hard to talk trash without getting down and dirty. Waste has real and lasting effects on the environment, but so can you. Here are the top four ways you can make a difference by recycling:

4. Cut Costs

The importance of recycling

The importance of recycling

 

Image via Flickr by Jdhancock

Businesses can save big when it comes to office recycling. Small changes can make a huge impact on the life of your business, as well as the life of the planet. Some of the most common waste products including cardboard, paper, and plastic come to landfills directly from companies. In fact, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs for UK determined that commercial and industrial waste in England alone is an estimated 47.9 million tons.

Encourage your employees to not only reuse paper when possible and (as a company) resell it. For example, The University of Washington medical Center in the US saved $110,000 in a single year by cutting landfill costs through recycling and reselling paper and cardboard.

3. Conserve Energy

Energy conservation isn’t about simply turning off lights when you leave the room. Waste already causes a considerable energy deficit through transportation and incineration alone; however, the same items that create the deficit can also be used to fight it. It’s possible to recycle organic waste products such as vegetable oil and even corn.

Recycled organic waste can power everything from cars to kilowatts. Corporations can save as much as 11 million kilowatt-hours of electricity every year via vegetable waste.

2. Save Space

No, not outer space, although, we’ve already learned how pollution affects the atmosphere here and beyond. Consider the gravity of garbage. The UK alone has around 2,000 landfills. Only 75% of them still accept waste, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t taking valuable land.

The more trash we create, the more space we consume. Often times, it’s also land that can no longer be used due to toxic trash like used batteries and other consumer electronics. You can save space by recycling all sorts of things. Common products like bottles, boxes, and cans aren’t the only reusable materials. Consider and compare mobile phone recycling and other electronics recycling programs.

1. Reduce Pollution

You can recycle and reuse simple household items like aluminum to minimize mining pollution. According to National Geographic, “mining and refining virgin aluminum also produces greenhouse gases as well as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, two emissions associated with acid rain.” So, the next time you cook your famous pot roast, consider rinsing and recycling the aluminum foil.

Now that you know how you can make a difference by recycling, it’s time to get creative with ways to recycle and reuse. Share your favorite recycling tips in the comments below.

Vivienne Westwood is Virgin Atlantic’s New Uniform Designer

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Iconic and controversial British designer Vivienne Westwood has been announced as the new designer of Virgin Atlantic’s iconic red uniform. The collaboration between the two British brands is a long-term partnership which will see a total re-design of the uniform across all areas. With original design and sustainability being vital factors to both Richard Branson and Vivienne Westwood, this project aims to bring these ideals together in an exciting and innovative collaboration.

male_sketch

For the new uniforms, Vivienne Westwood wanted to create a futuristic look which references her enduring interest in 40’s French couture cutting techniques as well as the Savile Row tailoring heritage. The new designs will capture the glamour and style that the Virgin Atlantic cabin crew are renowned for.

Female sketch

Richard Branson, President of Virgin Atlantic commented: “Virgin Atlantic has a distinct spirit and from a design perspective we continually try to challenge the norm and stand out from the crowd. Our current uniform has been around for more than 10 years and we have seen other airlines start to copy it. When we were choosing the designer for this project, we wanted to work with a group of people who share our spirit of adventure, who believe in challenging the status quo and creating something truly memorable.”

Vivienne Westwood commented: “My clothes have always got a very strong dynamic rapport with the body- they are very body conscious, they help you to look glamorous, more hourglass, more woman. I design things to help people to hopefully express their personality. I am always trying to find fabrics that are more friendly to the environment – working with Virgin Atlantic they managed to research into this and find more eco fabrics.”

For the female cabin crew uniform the design process began by looking at cuts which encompassed function as well as form. The suit is, of course, in the iconic Virgin red and the silhouette extremely feminine to fit all shapes and sizes. The jacket enhances the female form with the aid of cleverly placed bust pleats, a nipped in waist and a curved hip line and the pencil skirt which looks deceptively simple from the front then reveals a cheeky dart and double pleat at the back. For the men, a sharp Savile Row inspired three piece suit in rich burgundy wool is subverted with shadow details in grey wool under the lapels and pockets. The effect is of a very traditional British look which is given a contemporary feel.

Over 7,500 staff including cabin crew, pilots, Clubhouse staff and Virgin Holidays employees will receive new uniforms from the iconic designer and employees have been involved throughout the design process. Passengers will receive a sneak peek of the new uniforms from July 2013 when cabin crew and ground staff trial the uniform at the airports and on board. Crew will provide feedback on the design, practicality and wearability so tweaks can be made ahead of the full launch in 2014.

Many items of the new uniform will be produced using recycled materials – in particular working with recycled polyester yarn made from used plastic bottles. The suiting fabrics will also have a nano finish applied which extends the life of garments and enables clothing to retain its colour and finish for longer. Virgin Atlantic is also developing all items with Closed Loop Recycling in mind. This new technology takes worn polyester clothing and turns it back into fibres that can be woven again into new fabrics and in turn new clothing.

Vivienne Westwood has also introduced recycled bags for the ground staff which will be produced for Virgin through the Ethical Africa Programme, in collaboration with the International Trade Centre (ITC). The bags will be created using recycled canvas, reused roadside banners, unused leather off-cuts, and recycled brass, produced in the Kibera slum, Nairobi, where discarded metal like padlocks and car pieces are collected then melted down.

To explore the Virgin Atlantic uniform project, visit our Pinterest board at http://pinterest.com/VirginAtlantic/New-Red-Threads/ and join the conversation on Twitter using #newredthreads.

An Alternative To Ebay?

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Ebay may have a stonghold, but now there are other ways to turn your old CDs, DVDs and games into cash.

TurnIntoCash.com is a new, free to use website that allows users to get cash for old unwanted discs without the hassle of an auction.

The Manchester-based company was founded by Rob Fox and Pete Petrondas, the team that developed the first ever cash for old mobiles website over eight years ago. It aims to give users the highest possible quality of service, while being more convenient to use than traditional auction websites.

Those looking to sell old CDs, DVDs and games simply enter the item barcode into the TurnIntoCash.com website for an instant valuation. When they have built up their trade (10 items) they are emailed Freepost labels or if they have 45 or more items, offered a free courier collection service. Payment for the old items is sent within seven days of receipt.

The TurnIntoCash.com system has been developed to provide a valuation for hundreds of thousands of CDs, DVDs and games including newer Blu Ray discs.

There is no limit on the number of items a user can trade-in and the amount offered ranges from 30p up to £10 depending on a number of factors including type, age, popularity and demand of the items. Old discs collected through TurnIntoCash.com are refurbished with new disc cases or by polishing out damage prior to resale worldwide. Items that cannot be resold are recycled responsibly.

“Users are always looking for ease, convenience and the highest possible quality of service, so we have made sure that quality is at the heart of our unique valuation and trade tracking system, “ commented Fox. “Our system regularly communicates with the user telling them what stage their trade-in is at, and, as our system tracks each item of their trade individually, we can tell them exactly the status of each item ensuring they receive their payment as quickly as possible with no delays.”

“If people want to sell their old CDs, DVDs and games they have a number of choices from car boot sales to auction websites, but because we have considered the user from day one, we think TurnintoCash.com will be first on their list in the future, “ concluded Fox.

 

 

The Londoner Life Part 2 October {Opinions}

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The Londoners Life – October – By Phil Ryan

If there’s one thing that vexes the average Londoner it’s the state of public transport. Mainly because it doesn’t actually work often. It sort of nearly functions. I marvel at the regular announcements on the Underground. Today we have a good service. Two things always strike me about these announcements. One is they are setting me up to get ready for the bad service days by alerting me to the fact that to every equal there is an opposite. And the second is the thought why announce that the system is doing what it’s supposed to be doing. That’s like walking into a restaurant and the waiter coming over and announcing they have plenty of food. That’s the point isn’t it? But once you’ve managed to actually struggle around in the day on our crumbling and ever fragile transport infrastructure the next even more pressing problem is the late night options. And these can be summed up in three words – The Night Bus.

These are effectively large slow moving vehicles designed to contain as many drunks and werewolves as possible. Sprinkle in the few members of the occasional psychotic street gang, the unconscious guy who smells of vomit, and the elderly man wearing a tin foil helmet singing in a curiously low mumbling voice and voila – you have an average Night Bus passenger manifest. Where it says destination they might as well put Narnia. As the doors open the smell of alcohol and chips hits you, you nod at the driver cowering behind his bulletproof glass, he shrugs and off you go. It’s like buying a lottery ticket. And interestingly offers the same complete element of chance. I once got onto a Night Bus in Camden Town. It was packed. So I made my way upstairs onto the top deck. It was full of silent people all dressed in Gorilla suits. I went back downstairs. London. With its unique social fabrics. Difficult to fathom.

Just like asking people for directions. No matter what area you are in, if you pull the car over and tentatively call to a passerby they will do one of three things. Run in terror. Blatantly ignore you. Or smile and say they are not from round there. It’s guaranteed. I now believe that every morning everyone in London goes to a completely different area. Everyone. En masse. They walk around. Fill the cafes. Sit in the offices. Thus guaranteeing nobody is from anywhere local ever. A month back I was in Balham. Somewhere. In a friend’s car. Late and lost. First I tried the obvious approach of asking people walking by. They displayed the three standard characteristics I mentioned earlier. Then I went into a shop. Three guys behind the counter. Sorry mate they chorused. We’re not from round here. It was a 24 hour shop. When did they have time to be anywhere else? A conundrum. But paling into insignificance compared to the new phenomenon that I now struggle with. Re-cycling confusion.

I now have four bins. I used to have just one. But now I have two yellow bags. A brown bin. A blue bin. A green box. Four collection days. And a handy explanation guide from the Council. Written by a dyslexic gibbon. It’s the new thing. Re-cycling. In reality it means stuffing your home with small piles of waste. Rotting food. Great stacks of paper and cardboard. It’s like living in a well furnished refuse facility. The only thing missing is a flock of seagulls and a bunch of those weirdos who turn up in orange boiler suits on weekends. The ones that find a broken chair and reclaim it. They carefully fix it up until it looks just like a broken chair covered in gaffer tape. Coincidentally one lives next door. My next door neighbour is a pinched face woman. She wears one of those knitted Peruvian hats. Her dog is called Krishna. A keen re-cycler she once told me. I’d commented on her orange boiler suit with ‘This is my Planet’ stencilled on the back. And I made the mistake of asking her to explain the new system to me. Sadly she explained it. For an hour. I went back inside. I’d been doing it wrong. I’d been mixing paper with plastics. Food with waste. And batteries with old nuclear warheads. It was ridiculous. I felt bad. I was destroying the planet singlehandedly. But then that’s the whole idea. To put you off balance. As they guilt trip you they can now charge little bits of extra cash. For special waste bags. To pay for new trees in the area. To keep the park nice. To mow the verges. To stop the icebergs from melting. To save the Patagonian purple booby hawk. A Green levy they call it. To pay for things your Council tax used to pay for anyway. I once met my local Council leader. He smilingly told me they ship all my rubbish to China. Very green. Ten billion gallons of diesel and a filthy old cargo ship chugging from Camden to Shanghai. Oil slick trailing behind it. I hate my Council. I have to. But all Londoners do. It’s a London thing.