August’s Waste Thoughts – 2023

Full notes below, quick summary:

Actions:

  • Kate write a template letter asking drug manufacturers to use recyclable packaging to be shared at the next CASaV meeting for other people to use
  • All get back to Jenny if Sally Russell’s research suggests she could usefully talk to CASaV about – Sally’s profile
  • Simon coordinate volunteers for Bilsdale show
  • Simon complete Bilsdale attendance form
  • Kate produce A4 leaflet folded to A5 eating sustainably – circulate by end of week

If you have just signed up to the Waste Group, then welcome, I hope these notes of our discussion make sense.

We meet once a month to talk about topics connected to waste and plan / report progress on our ongoing activities such as the Repair Cafes, Foodshare, Refill scheme and upcoming events such as the Bilsdale Show.  If you visit the “Thoughts on Waste” page on the CASaV website you can find all our past discussions – https://climateactionstokesleyandvillages.org/waste/thoughts-on-waste/

Please get in touch if you have any questions.

Notes form 8th August 2023 CASaV Waste Group Meeting

Agenda

Apologies
Updates
Actions from last meeting
Bilsdale Show
Matters arising
Recent online / physical meetings
AOB

Updates

Kate

Hambleton Community Action new multi-agency support hub in Northallerton High Street is introducing crafts, so are looking for wool knitting needles / crochet hooks and other craft utensils.

Festival of Thrift are keen to get any scrap fabric you have to upcycle into bunting, they are running bunting workshops.

People appreciate being able to recycle blister packs, but this is only possible via Superdrug who then send the blister packs to Terracycle. The Globe’s blister packs used to go to Superdrug in Chester le Street, the Superdrug scheme was only ever really for personal use, but the staff turned a blind eye to Louise Coidan bringing in sacks of blister packs. Superdrug has now restricted as Terracycle now require all blister pack to checked by a pharmacist as many of the packs contained medication and often included items such as make up containers.

It is possible to buy boxes from Terracycle which they send to you, you fill them up and then Terracycle pay for the box to sent back to them full. However, the boxes to recycle come in a range of sizes – Small: 1500 blister packets – £92; Medium: 4300 blister packets – £134; Large: 7500 blister packets – £199. Should CASaV / Stokesley and Villages Repair Cafe look into sponsoring the Globe to continue collecting blister pack and pay for the recycling?

It is crazy that something like blister packs that only need to protect medicines for months and are used for seconds, survive for 100s of years if released into the environment.

Blister packs are designed so that people didn’t overdose / take correct amount, avoid contamination, blister packs can be difficult to push out for older people for example.

Dossette boxes exist where the pharmacist will put a weeks medication in individual sections within the box. However, it will depend on availability of staff at each pharmacy as to whether there is a waiting list to get dossette boxes.

We need to write to drug manufacturers to ask them to either put in place proper systems for end of life for blister packs – reuse, repair, recycling or supply medicines in reduced amounts of packaging which can be recycled normally.

Action: Kate write a template letter asking drug manufacturers to use recyclable packaging to be shared at the next CASaV meeting for other people to use

What Planet are also looking at the possibilities of recycling blister packs.

Radio Four’s Any Questions came from Saltburn on Friday 4th August and I asked a question on how all UK houses could get extra layers of insulation as Greenpeace had supplied extra for Rishi Sunak’s house. It was interesting that my question was fact checked and I was asked to change “the north east has the worst insulated housing in the UK” to “the north east has some of the worst insulated housing in the UK”, but as I was able to show my source was the Office of National Statistics, I didn’t have to change the question – Insulation and energy efficiency of housing in England and Wales: 2022

Fred

Wondering how cooperation between food banks works, as Guisborough food bank advertised some shortages. A lot of local food banks are part of Trussell Trust so they will support each other, but possible the church food banks are outside this network.

Wendy

Personal repair cafe satisfying time spent darning and patching, extending the life of my collection of socks and jumpers, plus even bags, wind chimes.

David

Today they was an interesting Radio Four Call You & Yours: How do you make your clothes last longer? on 30th July covered recycling clothes, it looks like there is a massive change in fashion going on with people moving to old clothes and sharing. Also interesting that cheaper clothes don’t necessarily last longer than more expensive clothes. They featured a Repair Shop which was more like a sewing shop – charging to fix things – £16 for a jean zip replacement. Telford Repair Cafe moves around the Telford area, lots more people this year lots in need, but also people wanting to keep things. Is this change in behaviour a sign that we are reaching a tipping point?

BBC News and The Guardian amongst others have highlighted how meatless sales have fallen from their peak. Smaller companies are going out of business and values of the larger companies have fallen considerably and multi-nationals food conglomerates are withdrawing vegan products. The BBC News programme didn’t understand vegan, which is one of the factors combined with strong lobbying by the meat industry and pressure groups to label vegan foods as highly processed. The elephant in the room is also cost, as many substitute meat products are luxury products and so are as expensive a meat equivalents.

Jenny

Met Professor Sally Russell Chair of Sustainability and Organisational Behaviour at the University of Leeds, one area she has worked on extensively is food waste, and how to get people to reduce food waste, for example this paper “Food waste interventions: Experimental evidence of the effectiveness of environmental messages“. She is interested to talk to if people are interested.

Action: All get back to Jenny if Sally Russell’s research suggests she could usefully talk to CASaV about – Sally’s profile

First thought it would be interesting to hear how Sally would suggest CASaV could best encourage people to reduce food waste.

Encouraged Craig a potential repair cafe repairer to come to the Stokesley Repair Cafe on 12th August.

In 2019 Radio Four’s Food Programme has done a number of programmes looking at meat replacements – Eating Meat – Part 1 The Future of Meat and Part 2 Questions on Meat, Lab Grown Meat .

A film “Meat the Future” is advertised as “A revolution is coming to your plate. Meat made from cells, without animal slaughter, will change how we think about food.” – stream here.

Oxford’s Museum of Natural History had a great exhibition called “Meat the Future“, holistic overview of everything that impacts meat and everything that meat impacts.

Caroline’s surplus wedding food is now being taken to Nightlite and Nightlite leaflets are being given to the caterers.

However, lots of caterers throw lots of food away at end of events – how can we avoid this?

Less choice / set meals give an immediate reduction in waste, compared to buffets.

On event invites could include where the excess food goes to at the end of the event.

Target locations where events are being held and where events that lead into meals, i.e. for weddings could you empower churches to put the message out, registry offices.

For Guisborough Methodist church, any event food could go to their food bank at the end.

Caterers should provide compostable food boxes – wedding doggy bag – going home bag – relive the wedding breakfast the next day at home.

Should we approach North Yorkshire Council food standards – ideally for them to say that food has to find a suitable home or at least encourage the businesses they register to ensure that food waste is minimised.

ApprovedFood takes excess food from supermarkets and sell s it at lower cost.

Pete

One of our Ukranian guests is a ballet dancer so I have upcycled old tyres and scaffolding poles to make a ballet barre. The tyres are filled with cement in order to provide stability and ensure the scaffolding poles are not in way wobbly.

The barre works well, but my ballet needs a bit of work.

Simon

EPR – extended producer responsibility – polluter pays for packaging. Sadly, EPR which was originally slated for introduction in 2019, has now been further delayed from 2023 to 2025. Financial incentives do drive corporate behaviour, so taxing companies who use packaging according to how easily their packaging can be recycled will be a real incentive to not only use more recyclable materials, but also to reduce the amount of packaging as much as possible.

In 2024 should CASaV have a presence at all the shows within the area? Heather Moorhouse during the AGM said CASaV should be at all local shows, great idea, but how do we do this? Need more volunteers and need to makte it easy.

Looking into possibility to hold “Give and Take” events locally, they still not possible due to the waste contracts which carry over from Hambleton District Council to North Yorkshire Council. While the whole idea is to get everything taken away we have to have a way of dealing with any things that are both left and also aren’t suitable for local charity shops, in Hambleton we have to pay for this, whereas in Ryedale the council operates commercial waste so take it away as part of normal waste collection.

Bilsdale Show

26th August – open to the public from 9am – 5pm – so we will need to set up the stall from 8am onwards and then will leave around 5pm.
We have arranged for North Yorkshire Council to provide recycling bins and for North Yorkshire Rotters to attend.
Current volunteers – Jenny, Simon, Anne, Joy, Pete, Wendy & David (11am – 12.45pm)
Seek further volunteers at CASaV General Meeting.
Simon – co-ordinate lifts
Talking to people with farm, horses – last year lots of people were keen to tell us what they were doing
What to display / put on the stall?
Kate – A4 leaflet eating sustainably – perhaps part of a series you and your life style – Plant based recipes – local vegan restaurants

Bring along cookery books with tasty recipes inspiration, other books on ways to change your behaviour to address climate change i.e. Change the World – 9-5 – challenge your business about its lights on at night policy

Fred will bring his recycling table top display.

Limited number upcycling entries – punch put in ring binder in plastic wallets.

CASaV leaflet with QR codes.

Ways to save energy, draught excluders.

Action: Kate produce A4 leaflet folded to A5 eating sustainably – circulate by end of week

All in CASaV tabbards.

Actions from last meeting

Jenny get NightLite flyers for Caroline to give to caterers
Caroline has flyers.

Simon share link to recording of European Repair Cafe Webinar
https://cfsd.org.uk/events/european-repair-cafe-conference/

Matters Arising

Repair Cafes

Stokesley 12/8
Swainby 16/9

Retaining heat – Making draught excluders anything to help people cut their energy consumption – shirt arms/jean legs with old cushion fillings inside, similarly can make fireplace balloons to block draught in chimneys.
Other example things, Citizens Advice mobile vans freebies
The government’s Help for Householders’ website provide “Energy saving tips to save money” and CASaV has pulled a lot of links togethr on the energy page. There are also many community energy groups also have useful informaton.
Low cost / alternative technology approaches to warm area in house
Should CASaV hold an event all about low energy homes – insulation, dehumidifiers, retrofitting, insulating coatings, curtains velcroed to walls at edges, foil behind radiators.
Local secondary double glazing suppliers?

Recent online / physical meetings

AOB

Next meeting

Tuesday 12th September 7.00pm