USE IT ALL

UK citizens are the worst consumers in Europe for buying single-use, irreparable goods. In this new BBC Radio 4 programme material scientist Professor Mark Miodownik explores how we got to this unsustainable state.

You can find the programmes here https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000vgh9

Could the High Street be the Street that Saved? Food Savvy are looking for one Norwich based and one Suffolk based community to take part in a supported challenge to collectively make your food go further and help save it from the bin.

Householders will be provided with personalised advice, a free food saving kit and join challenges and ongoing prizes to help keep things lively! And there may even be a chance to be on TV…

Deposit schemes are in operation in several countries around the world. You pay a 'deposit' on the container, then when the container is returned, you get your deposit back. Older readers will remember beer bottles (and possibly 'borrowing' them from the back of pubs to generate a bit of pocket money); and, of course, milk bottles.

The present government has committed to introducing such a scheme. Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is entering the second consultaion on having a Deposit Return Scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The High Street has been accepted onto The Street That Saved challenge!

The High Street is going head-to-head with Norfolk town Thetford.

During August, if you join us, you'll be asked to save food waste, do some fun challenges, and save money. The Street that Saves the most will win, as well as helping yourself and the planet.

Win: £50, plus £50 worth of products and save up to £730 over the course of the year! Oh, and they’ll be a mega bonus prize for the street that saves the most.

Use it All hit the street today, Friday 2nd July.

There were lots of leaflets available, including Use It All's flyer.

Several interesting conversations were had – including someone very knowedgeable about the EU's failure, in his eyes, to properly implement a EU wide container deposit/return scheme. Our current government has promised such a scheme for 2024. You can find out more here  

Someone else asked about wine corks – there's some info here 

And someone else said they might join us in The Street That Saved – find some info here and here

Use It All stall, with info, community leaflets, and collection point for those hard-to-recycle things like crisp packets and Pringles tubes and flimsy plastics 

Use It All stall, with info, community leaflets, and collection point for those hard-to-recycle things like crisp packets and Pringles tubes and flimsy plastics 

The Street That Saved is on the radio. And is set to be on TV, too.

The Street That Saved is a competition between Suffolk and Norfolk to waste the least and save the most money!

Here's our podcast (under the Use It All banner) of the radio interviews done on Saturday morning.

Keep an eye and ear out for the story on BBC Look East next week.

Our first Challenge is keeping a week's record of what we throw away, foodwise.

Norfolk County Council are all over this

On Sunday 8th August the Triangle Market Sails hosted a Smoothie Bike.

The Bike - basically a food blender powered by mad cycling – was a part of the launch of Lowestoft High Street's effort to become the Street That Won The Street That Saved, the competition designed to help us waste less food.

The figures are astonishing. The world, and us, throws away thirty percent of the food we buy. And not only does this throw away money, it chucks the planet under a bus.

So Hubbub welcomed the great and the good, as well as the enthusiastic and vocal participants.

One aspect of our daily living where we do not Use It All is the way that we heat our homes and workplaces. With soaring energy prices and the possibility that they will go up again this autumn, it also means that many people will be pushed into fuel poverty. It is also essential to improve the UK housing stock if we are to get anywhere near our commitment to combat climate change.

We know that many people reading this article will just be interested in what they can do, and what support they can get in cutting their growing energy bills. Therefore, we will deal with this first.