Could you cut your waste in just 30 days?

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Could you cut your waste in 30 days?

zero waste

Last year residents of Malvern Hills District generated more than 12,100 tonnes of non-recyclable waste. This not only costs millions of pounds to deal with but is also a huge waste of water, energy and raw materials.

While we all know about recycling, many of us are unaware it actually comes pretty far down the list in terms of waste management.

So, if we are going to save the planet and live more sustainably, we need to focus more on reducing, reusing and repairing and only recycle when other options are either unavailable or impractical.

That is why we have launched 30 days of zero waste in Worcestershire – a joint campaign run by councils across the county to encourage you to make simple changes to your lifestyle to help lower the waste you generate.

zero waste1

What do we mean by a zero waste lifestyle?

In its purest form a zero waste lifestyle means you send nothing to landfill or incineration. While this is possible for some, many will struggle, particularly as we all lead busy lives and society does not make it easy to avoid the throw away culture.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try and making small changes can genuinely have a major impact. For instance, 37% of the waste thrown away by households in the district is food. By avoiding that about 5,000 tonnes of waste could be prevented.

So what can I do?

There are lots of ways you can get involved.

Take our zero waste challenge

Download our guide here and challenge yourself to see how much you can reduce your waste by in just 30 days. There’s lots of information and advice and even if you can’t do it all, pick three things and commit to making them permanent changes to your lifestyle.

Reduce your food waste

The guide has lots of advice but you can also get plenty of top tips at www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

Get your broken household items fixed

Don’t just get rid, see if you can fix it first. Malvern Hills Repair Café has a range of volunteers that are just waiting to help you get your household items back up and running. The next session takes place in Malvern on Saturday, 19 October. Click here for more information.

Clear out your closet

Clear out your closet and declutter your house. Donate any unwanted items to charity shops, sell them online or pass them on to friends. There are £30million worth of unused clothes hanging in the nation’s wardrobes, don’t let them go to waste. It’s not just clothing though, some charity shops and reuse organisations will also accept furniture and electrical items. Click here to find your local charity shop and the type of items they will accept.

clothes

Sign up for our clothing reuse and repair workshops

If you don’t know how to sew on a button or turn up a hem then don’t despair.  We’re running free basic repair and sewing technique workshops between 12.30pm and 2.30pm in the following locations:

  • Monday 14 October - Bromsgrove Sewing Studio, 17 Worcester Road, Bromsgrove B61 7DL
  • Tuesday 15  October - The Hive, Sawmill Walk, The Butts, Worcester WR1 3PD
  • Wednesday 16  October - Kidderminster Town Hall, Vicar Street, Kidderminster DY10
  • Thursday 17 October – Redditch Town Hall, Walter Stranz Square, Redditch B98 8AH
  • Friday 18 October - Evesham Library, Oat Street, Evesham WR11 4PJ

If you’re a bit more confident with a needle and thread but would like to know how to turn your old unwanted clothes into something fabulous, then sign up for our free new from old workshops being held on the same dates and at the same locations as above, but at the earlier time of 10am to 12pm.

Any clothes you make during this session would also be eligible to appear in a fashion show at the Redditch Rethinks Rubbish event being held on Saturday, 19 October.

Visit our repair and repurpose sewing workshops page to book your place.

Rag rug

Sign up for our rag rug making workshop, 1.15pm Saturday, 19 October 2019

A free one hour workshop teaching you the basic techniques involved with making your very own rag rug is on offer as part of our Malvern Greener Living Fair. This workshop is being provided by Malvern Country Market. Your tutor, Philippa, will teach you the techniques needed to create a vibrant rag rug. You will be able to practise on a hessian square that you can take away at the end of the workshop.

Rag rugs are a great way of using up unwanted clothes that may not be good enough for the charity shop.

A £5 fully refundable deposit is required to confirm your booking. Once you have signed in at the workshop, the £5 will be refunded in full.

You can book a maximum of two places per person by visiting Malvern Tourist Information Centre, located on Church Street next to the Lyttelton Well, WR14 2AY (open Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm). Cash only please.

20 places are available. The workshop is suitable for all ages but anyone under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

To find out more about Malvern Country Market, visit their Facebook page @malverncountrymarket or visit the market which runs every Friday morning, 9am to 12pm at the Lyttleton Rooms, Church Street, Malvern.

Attend the Malvern Greener Living Fair

We are holding our first Malvern Greener Living Fair on Saturday, 19 October between 1pm and 3.30pm in Priory Church, Malvern. Run in association with Transition Malvern Hills, there will be a variety of talks and demonstrations for you to enjoy and the best bit is, it’s completely free.

This is also part of our annual Malvern Environment Week. Click here for more information.

Whatever you do over your 30 days of zero waste, do something and keep it simple. You will save money, reduce your waste and help save the planet at the same time.


Weekly bin reminders

green bin

If you would like a weekly reminder to your inbox about whether or not it's recycling or black bin week then sign up here.

You can also keep track of which colour bin/sack to put out by referring to the 2019 collection calendar here.

You can also use the online collection day look up calendar here.

Any disruption to our collection service will be reported here.

Missed collection? Report it online here.

If you have any queries about the service email depotadmin@malvernhills.gov.uk