November 9, 2024 • 21 mins
🌍 The latest podcast reminds us that even small changes can make a big difference for our planet. Together, we have the power to create meaningful change in our #environment . Let's #challengetochange today and make a positive impact! 🌱💚 #environment #recyclingmatters #grassroots #cheshireeast
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Episode Transcript
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(00:10):
Hi there and welcome to theChallenge to Change podcast.
My name is Hazel and thispodcast is all about the
little changes we can all makethat will have a positive
effect upon planet earth. Ifyou're new here, welcome. If
you've listened before,welcome back. The Challenge to
(00:33):
Change podcast has beenbrought to you on behalf of
ANSA Environmental Services.To find out more about ANSA,
please visit ANSA.co.uk. Let'sget into the podcast episode.
Welcome to this episode of theChallenge to Change podcast.
(00:55):
As you can see, I am here withthe lovely Lisa from the team
that I work in. So Lisa alsoworks for ANSA Environmental
Services. So we have, ofcourse, Lisa spoken on the
Challenge to Change podcastbefore, but not for quite some
time. So welcome back. You'revery welcome. So tell me then,
(01:17):
Lisa, or tell everybodylistening more importantly
about your job here at ANSA.What you do? Well, I'm known
as a community engagementofficer and I go around to
different community groups inCheshire East Council from
preschool, nurseries, right upto care homes and everything
in between. And I give freetalks on recycling, reducing
(01:43):
food waste, or basically wastereduction as a whole. So I
believe that you have beenworking, is it a school this
morning? Is that what you'vebeen doing today? No, I
actually, I worked at anursery yesterday, so I was
teaching them the Reduce,Reuse, Recycle song and they
were dancing and they lovedit. If we can get their
(02:05):
children at that very youngage, Grasping this message,
it's wonderful to see and theylove it, they love the reduce,
reuse, recycle. And then Iwent to a library, that was
this morning, and we madehedgehogs out of books with
craft, so just to get acrossthe idea of reusing and
(02:27):
repurposing. I've got twoquestions then leading on from
that. So first of all, soobviously you said you were at
a nursery yesterday. So howyoung were the children that
you were talking to? I knowyou were talking to the, you
know, the nursery staff aswell, of course, but how young
were the children? There werethree and four year olds, one
as young as two. And theyjust, the very little ones
(02:49):
just stayed in and just sortof stared at me. Most of the
children were about three orfour years old, but there was
a little two year old there.He did kind of look, just sort
of stare at me, but when wedid the reduce, reuse, recycle
actions, he was copying. So Imean, it's a really good way,
isn't it, to get that messageacross to young people through
(03:12):
that kind of music andactions, because it stays with
them, doesn't it? So they'vegot, you know, because it's
fun, it's kind of a good wayto sort of, yeah, let them
sort of carry that messagewith them. So do you think,
Through that, do you feel asif they will have gone home,
hopefully, to their parentsand said that, you know, even
if they just pick up, thatit's really important to
(03:33):
reuse? Yeah. Nailed it,really, then, haven't we? Do
you know what I mean? That'simportant, isn't it? I did ask
them to tell the parents tolook up the reduce, reuse,
recycle. One little girlactually said, I'm going to
sing it all night and do mymum and dad's head in. Which
is great because that'steaching the next generation,
(03:55):
you know, higher generation.Absolutely. I love that. It's
really cute and it does makesuch a difference and I
definitely think through thatsong it's a really good way to
convey the message. Do youfeel like doing a little
rendition of it now for thelisteners or is that a little
bit too much to ask? I can doa little bit. Let me see, how
(04:19):
does it start? Three. That'sthe magic number because three
is the magic number. And thenit goes, we're going to talk
about three Rs today. Andthese are reduce, reuse,
recycle, reduce, reuse,recycle. And it just goes on
like that. I'm so sorry to putyou on the spot. Yeah, I get
(04:42):
you that. I would deserve it.I would deserve you to get me
back on that. But I justthought, Anybody listening,
look up Jack Johnson, thethree R's and you can listen
to it yourself and it'sbrilliant, it's really groovy
and trendy. Brilliant, that'sfantastic. So the other
question that I was going toask you, so you were talking
(05:02):
about, did you say you weremaking angels out of books?
Yeah, we're making hedgehogsat the moment but I've
discovered now how to make anangel. My demonstration is
back on my desk. Hedgehogs,they're really cute. So the
books that you're using then,are these books that are no
(05:24):
longer in condition to be readpresumably? Or is it things
that libraries are getting ridof? What types of books are
you using? Yeah, we're usingex-library books. I had the
head of libraries in CheshireEast contact me and she didn't
know what to do with thesebooks and because of the glue
(05:44):
and stitching on them, Noteasily recyclable without
ripping them apart. So I said,well, we'll repurpose them,
we'll make them into ornamentsor book hedgehogs. And that's
what we did. And we've neverlooked back. The public are
loving it. Children are lovingit. And it's just great, great
demonstration. of reusing andrepurposing. That's brilliant.
(06:08):
I think maybe especially sortof people that perhaps don't
work in a library, we don'talways think about what
happens to a book when it isno longer fit for purpose
because they don't, nothingreally lasts forever, does it?
So things do run out, thingsdo become unreadable, they
might get ripped or whatever.So yeah, it's a brilliant
(06:29):
message and it's great thatyou're Bringing it into a
craft activity that people cankeep forever as well, can't
they? Yeah, of course, yeah.So for some reason I've got in
my head angels, so I think Imight have seen an angel made
from books on your desk, sothat's probably why I was
thinking that you were doingthat. So is that the next
(06:49):
activity that you'll belooking at then? It is, yeah.
That'll be nearer toChristmas, so I'm just
refining how to put the wingson and the head on. But again,
it's paper folding. You foldeach page of a book, Two
simple folds and you get thisbeautiful angel. So yeah, I'm
looking forward to doing that.Yeah, it'll be lovely. And as
(07:10):
you say, the build up toChristmas as well, it's a very
appropriate kind of festiveactivity, isn't it? And you
can just, I guess you can justput them away and then get
them back out again every yearas well. So you can keep
displaying them eachChristmas. You know, they
don't need to be a one-offkind of ornament or whatever.
(07:31):
So tell me then, Lisa, moreabout the things that you do
in your job. Obviously, ofcourse, I know because I work
very closely with you. So Iknow that you go out to other
types of events, so thingslike food festivals and that
kind of thing. So what kind ofthings do you do there when
you go out and talk in thelocal community? We have
community hubs. I have littlepictures at libraries where I
(07:56):
just stand there, give outfreebies, useful talk about
the reduction of food freebiesand recycled things that have
been made into something else.We answer any questions
residents may have. Thingslike what can I put in my bin?
Where does my bin waste go?And it's really interesting
some of the conversations anddiscussions that we have. And
(08:18):
then we tailor these intospecific talks for community
groups. This could be churchgroups, WIs, probises. We go
in and we just give these freetalks on what waste goes
where, what can go in whatbin, what happens to your
waste when it gets collectedand how to reduce food waste
(08:39):
and how to reduce single-useplastic. Environmental ways
you can make smalldifferences, small changes
that make huge differences.Absolutely. Do you think
sometimes people do feel alittle bit almost powerless
where they feel, well,actually the things that I do
don't really make adifference. So I think that is
(09:02):
a, you know, and it's quitesad, isn't it? When, when
people might feel that way.They definitely do. Even using
a reusable Hot drinks cup or areusable water bottle. It's
such a simple thing, but youthink of all them plastic
bottles you're saving to getin the system. And we're fine
(09:22):
recycling them, but if we canreduce that down, we'll reduce
the resources and everythingin the process. So even the
simplest things, any residentslistening now, I want you to
know you're doing amazing. Itseems such a little thing. But
you are really helping. Yeah,I think you're right and it's
(09:44):
a brilliant message to get outthere for people that actually
these small changes do make adifference and we can feel
that, you know, we're sort ofempowered to make those small
changes. I know for myself,like I try, Really hard to do
the right thing by the planet.So if I forget to take a
reusable cup with me, when Igo to a coffee shop, I kind
(10:05):
of, I, you know, sort of tellmyself off and I get quite
annoyed with myself that I'veforgotten, but all of those
times where I did remember myreusable cup, all of those
times where I've chosen tostay in the coffee shop or
indeed for another matterwhere you've just had a drink
at home, you know, so you haveto think of all those things
that you have done. And howthey add up. And of course,
(10:27):
that's just you. There'sbillions of people in the
world. So, you know, all ofthem, hopefully, are trying to
do their little bit. I say aquote quite often in my talks.
only one plastic bottle saideight billion people. But you
can reverse that. If youreduce your plastic bottle
(10:49):
use, you're reversing it,which is absolutely amazing.
So I'm saving one bottle. If 8billion people said that, we
wouldn't have a problem withsingle-use plastics. This is
true. It's definitely the casethat collective action does
make a difference. I mean,yeah, there are other things
that we can do if we want to,you know, we can maybe speak
(11:12):
to our local supermarket, wecan ask them about packaging
and things like that if wewant to sort of go to that
level, but just sort of doinga small amount, which is
positive for the planet, itreally does help, definitely.
Yeah, it does. And of course,all the things that you do in
(11:33):
your job, talking to people,educating them on, you know,
the correct way to recycle inCheshire East. And of course,
you know, we do see here atAnswer that obviously
sometimes mistakes do happen.You know, people do sometimes
put the wrong things in theirrecycle bin. And in fact, the
podcast that I released, orthe last podcast that we
(11:56):
released, We were looking atcontamination as some of the
recent contamination itemsthat had come through in
recent pictures. That's alwaysdifficult to see but it's also
reminding people that actuallyMistakes can happen and people
are, I think in the majorityof cases, trying to put the
(12:18):
right things in the bin, youknow, they're trying to get it
right, you know, and that's,you know, it's fantastic when,
you know, people are trying tomake that difference. Do you
think it's worth giving peoplea little reminder of what
things can go into your silverrecycling bin? I'm putting you
on the spot now, but I bet youknow off the top. I do know
this off by heart, Hazel. It'squite easy. You can narrow
(12:42):
everything down, thematerials, to five basic
materials. So you've got yourglass, your plastic, paper,
cardboard and tin or metal,aluminium, that kind of thing.
So there are the five things.There are other things that
fall in grey areas. I'd justlike to mention the two main
ones, plastic. If it's got anymalleability, if it can be
(13:05):
moved or squeezed in any way,grey bin or silver bin if we
want to be posh. If it's hardplastic that's rigid that
won't move, black bin. Samewith film, film's even easier.
So that's the squeeze test. Dothe stretch test with
cellophane, film, anythinglike that. So if you pull a
(13:26):
bit of film and it snaps andit bangs when you pull it and
it doesn't stretch, that'sfine for the gray bin.
Anything like bubble wrap,cling film that stretches when
you pull it, black bin. Soit's squeeze test and stretch
test and that's your film andyour plastic sorted, really.
(13:46):
No, that's really good. Ithink it's a good way of kind
of indicating. How peopleknow, as you say, plastic is
one that can trip people up alittle bit. And I think maybe
another thing that some peopleare unsure on is making sure
that things that go in thesilver bin or as you say, grey
(14:07):
bin, silver bin, sometimes wecall it a silver bin because
it sounds much posher thatway. The things that go in
there do need to be clean andthey do need to be dry as
well. So I think if your tinof beans has still got loads
of beans in it, that's notgoing to work for the silver
bin, that will contaminate it.So eat your beans up, don't
(14:31):
waste them if you can avoid itand make sure it's clean
before you put that tin. Itdoesn't have to be so
sparkling that you can use itas a mirror, but it does need
to be free from that foodcontamination, doesn't it?
Yeah. Yeah. Another onethat's, that's springing into
my mind is, is, is that leaveit loose message as well,
(14:54):
which I have shared on themost recent podcast for this
one is that, you know, I thinkthat's another thing that
people sometimes aren't sureon. So they might put a load
of wonderful recycling insidea tied bag and then
unfortunately, yeah. There isa funny story I share in my
(15:14):
talk. I'm not quite sure whogot it. Actually over them,
but have heard the story thatsomeone had put shredded paper
in a bag tied to top. Wecouldn't see through it. And
when the lads manually soughtthe recycling at the depot at
Middlewich, there'd been a bigcraft project with lots of
glittering. So as I hear it,the lorry backs into the
(15:39):
depot. Tips it's load out,this bag falls from the top,
bursts open, shower a glitterall over people. It's quite
funny and they never lived itdown but it's a good example
that is of leave it loose.Don't tie things in bags that
we can't see because we needto get in there and pull out
all the things that shouldn'tbe in there like teddies and
(16:02):
nappies, things like that. Andthen when it's accurate it can
then go off to the recycleplant But we need to know
what's in the bin, so that'swhy we ask you leave it loose.
Absolutely. I mean, I'm surethey look beautiful covered in
glitter. But on the negativeside, it probably wasn't
biodegradable glitter, so notso good for planet Earth. I
(16:23):
mean, I'm sure they lookedreally festive, but yeah, not
so good for planet Earth.Glitter, of course, can't be
recycled for your silverrecycling bin. So if you have
done a craft project, couldn'tgo in your silver bin anyway,
could it? You'd be better offReusing, you know, like, so
obviously we've got thefestive season coming up, of
course. So glitter on cards,if you do have glitter on your
(16:47):
cards, I mean, a lot of cardsare sold now without glitter
because obviouslymanufacturers are kind of
getting into the idea of,well, people don't necessarily
want glittery cards. I knowsome people might do, but if
you've got glittery cards, youcan't put it in your silver
bin, can you? No. So that'sanother one. So that bag full
(17:08):
of glittery paper wasdefinitely in the wrong bin.
But it's a really good exampleactually, that is, sort of
kind of thinking about, youknow, when you put your stuff
in the bin, things happen toit after that. It hasn't just
gone in the bin and then, youknow, faded from existence.
(17:30):
There's an ongoing kind ofjourney for that waste that I
think I suppose it can be,maybe it's difficult for
people to kind of think aboutthat ongoing journey because
they put it in the bin, done,but there's more that happens.
I was talking to somebody at acommunity event that you and I
(17:52):
did, I think it was Conglesand Green Fair, and I was
talking to her a little bitabout contamination and she
seemed quite surprised thatAbout the amount of recycling
that we process. Can youremember how many recycle bins
we empty? I really am puttingyou on the spot. Or just how
(18:13):
many houses we serve inCheshire East? I think it is
250,000, something like that.It might be a bit more than
that. We do serve a lotthough. We do. I wanted to
make point but it's gone nowso keep talking and it'll come
back to you. It is, it's amassive amount of houses, it's
a huge amount of bins so thereis a lot of waste to process
(18:38):
isn't there? Yeah there is.What I have found when I've
been doing talks a lot ofresidents have said they
hardly fill their black binnow, they're really good at
recycling and reusing. So weare doing very well. We're one
of the top 10 performingcouncils in the UK for recycle
(18:59):
rates and accuracy. So that'ssomething to be proud of. It
is definitely, definitely.Yeah, I think it is. It's
encouraging to see that peopleare trying to do the right
thing. And I think for mypart, because I'm the person
who creates social mediaposts, so I do see all of
(19:21):
those things that we found inrecycling that shouldn't be
there. Sometimes it can bequite disheartening and I'm
sure it must be sometimesdisheartening for the people
working in the waste transferstations when they're kind of
seeing all these things comingthrough. But of course, that
is just a small percentage.There are so many more people
that are Probably creatingpicture perfect recycling, you
(19:45):
know, but we don't takepictures of those ones. We
just take pictures of the onesthat aren't quite so shiny.
But yeah, brilliant. I wasjust thinking it's the ripple
effect that works. I'm onlyone person. We've just had
another colleague Welcome intothe team Matthew, he'll be
doing schools. But there's alot of people in the borough
(20:08):
that we need to let know thesemessages, which is why these
podcasts are brilliant. Andalso when I give talks, even
if I speak to just 10 people,they'll go home, tell their
friends, their families, andit'll have the ripple effect.
And they'll say, oh, can youcome and give us a talk at our
WI or at our Rotary orRoundtable? And that's where
(20:30):
the message is getting outthere. Definitely, definitely.
Well, thank you so much, Lisa.I really do appreciate you
taking the time to talk to metoday. And of course, it has
been very interesting andinformative as usual. Thank
you Hazel. So that was me,Hazel Lees-Dixon, talking to
Lisa Owen, who is a CommunityEngagement Officer for ANSA
(20:54):
Environmental Services. Thankyou so much for listening to
this episode and I will returnreally soon for another
episode. Bye for now.
Hi there and welcome to theChallenge to Change podcast.
My name is Hazel and thispodcast is all about the
little changes we can all makethat will have a positive
effect upon planet earth. Ifyou're new here, welcome. If
you've listened before,welcome back. The Challenge to
(00:33):
Change podcast has beenbrought to you on behalf of
ANSA Environmental Services.To find out more about ANSA,
please visit ANSA.co.uk. Let'sget into the podcast episode.
Welcome to this episode of theChallenge to Change podcast.
(00:55):
As you can see, I am here withthe lovely Lisa from the team
that I work in. So Lisa alsoworks for ANSA Environmental
Services. So we have, ofcourse, Lisa spoken on the
Challenge to Change podcastbefore, but not for quite some
time. So welcome back. You'revery welcome. So tell me then,
(01:17):
Lisa, or tell everybodylistening more importantly
about your job here at ANSA.What you do? Well, I'm known
as a community engagementofficer and I go around to
different community groups inCheshire East Council from
preschool, nurseries, right upto care homes and everything
in between. And I give freetalks on recycling, reducing
(01:43):
food waste, or basically wastereduction as a whole. So I
believe that you have beenworking, is it a school this
morning? Is that what you'vebeen doing today? No, I
actually, I worked at anursery yesterday, so I was
teaching them the Reduce,Reuse, Recycle song and they
were dancing and they lovedit. If we can get their
(02:05):
children at that very youngage, Grasping this message,
it's wonderful to see and theylove it, they love the reduce,
reuse, recycle. And then Iwent to a library, that was
this morning, and we madehedgehogs out of books with
craft, so just to get acrossthe idea of reusing and
(02:27):
repurposing. I've got twoquestions then leading on from
that. So first of all, soobviously you said you were at
a nursery yesterday. So howyoung were the children that
you were talking to? I knowyou were talking to the, you
know, the nursery staff aswell, of course, but how young
were the children? There werethree and four year olds, one
as young as two. And theyjust, the very little ones
(02:49):
just stayed in and just sortof stared at me. Most of the
children were about three orfour years old, but there was
a little two year old there.He did kind of look, just sort
of stare at me, but when wedid the reduce, reuse, recycle
actions, he was copying. So Imean, it's a really good way,
isn't it, to get that messageacross to young people through
(03:12):
that kind of music andactions, because it stays with
them, doesn't it? So they'vegot, you know, because it's
fun, it's kind of a good wayto sort of, yeah, let them
sort of carry that messagewith them. So do you think,
Through that, do you feel asif they will have gone home,
hopefully, to their parentsand said that, you know, even
if they just pick up, thatit's really important to
(03:33):
reuse? Yeah. Nailed it,really, then, haven't we? Do
you know what I mean? That'simportant, isn't it? I did ask
them to tell the parents tolook up the reduce, reuse,
recycle. One little girlactually said, I'm going to
sing it all night and do mymum and dad's head in. Which
is great because that'steaching the next generation,
(03:55):
you know, higher generation.Absolutely. I love that. It's
really cute and it does makesuch a difference and I
definitely think through thatsong it's a really good way to
convey the message. Do youfeel like doing a little
rendition of it now for thelisteners or is that a little
bit too much to ask? I can doa little bit. Let me see, how
(04:19):
does it start? Three. That'sthe magic number because three
is the magic number. And thenit goes, we're going to talk
about three Rs today. Andthese are reduce, reuse,
recycle, reduce, reuse,recycle. And it just goes on
like that. I'm so sorry to putyou on the spot. Yeah, I get
(04:42):
you that. I would deserve it.I would deserve you to get me
back on that. But I justthought, Anybody listening,
look up Jack Johnson, thethree R's and you can listen
to it yourself and it'sbrilliant, it's really groovy
and trendy. Brilliant, that'sfantastic. So the other
question that I was going toask you, so you were talking
(05:02):
about, did you say you weremaking angels out of books?
Yeah, we're making hedgehogsat the moment but I've
discovered now how to make anangel. My demonstration is
back on my desk. Hedgehogs,they're really cute. So the
books that you're using then,are these books that are no
(05:24):
longer in condition to be readpresumably? Or is it things
that libraries are getting ridof? What types of books are
you using? Yeah, we're usingex-library books. I had the
head of libraries in CheshireEast contact me and she didn't
know what to do with thesebooks and because of the glue
(05:44):
and stitching on them, Noteasily recyclable without
ripping them apart. So I said,well, we'll repurpose them,
we'll make them into ornamentsor book hedgehogs. And that's
what we did. And we've neverlooked back. The public are
loving it. Children are lovingit. And it's just great, great
demonstration. of reusing andrepurposing. That's brilliant.
(06:08):
I think maybe especially sortof people that perhaps don't
work in a library, we don'talways think about what
happens to a book when it isno longer fit for purpose
because they don't, nothingreally lasts forever, does it?
So things do run out, thingsdo become unreadable, they
might get ripped or whatever.So yeah, it's a brilliant
(06:29):
message and it's great thatyou're Bringing it into a
craft activity that people cankeep forever as well, can't
they? Yeah, of course, yeah.So for some reason I've got in
my head angels, so I think Imight have seen an angel made
from books on your desk, sothat's probably why I was
thinking that you were doingthat. So is that the next
(06:49):
activity that you'll belooking at then? It is, yeah.
That'll be nearer toChristmas, so I'm just
refining how to put the wingson and the head on. But again,
it's paper folding. You foldeach page of a book, Two
simple folds and you get thisbeautiful angel. So yeah, I'm
looking forward to doing that.Yeah, it'll be lovely. And as
(07:10):
you say, the build up toChristmas as well, it's a very
appropriate kind of festiveactivity, isn't it? And you
can just, I guess you can justput them away and then get
them back out again every yearas well. So you can keep
displaying them eachChristmas. You know, they
don't need to be a one-offkind of ornament or whatever.
(07:31):
So tell me then, Lisa, moreabout the things that you do
in your job. Obviously, ofcourse, I know because I work
very closely with you. So Iknow that you go out to other
types of events, so thingslike food festivals and that
kind of thing. So what kind ofthings do you do there when
you go out and talk in thelocal community? We have
community hubs. I have littlepictures at libraries where I
(07:56):
just stand there, give outfreebies, useful talk about
the reduction of food freebiesand recycled things that have
been made into something else.We answer any questions
residents may have. Thingslike what can I put in my bin?
Where does my bin waste go?And it's really interesting
some of the conversations anddiscussions that we have. And
(08:18):
then we tailor these intospecific talks for community
groups. This could be churchgroups, WIs, probises. We go
in and we just give these freetalks on what waste goes
where, what can go in whatbin, what happens to your
waste when it gets collectedand how to reduce food waste
(08:39):
and how to reduce single-useplastic. Environmental ways
you can make smalldifferences, small changes
that make huge differences.Absolutely. Do you think
sometimes people do feel alittle bit almost powerless
where they feel, well,actually the things that I do
don't really make adifference. So I think that is
(09:02):
a, you know, and it's quitesad, isn't it? When, when
people might feel that way.They definitely do. Even using
a reusable Hot drinks cup or areusable water bottle. It's
such a simple thing, but youthink of all them plastic
bottles you're saving to getin the system. And we're fine
(09:22):
recycling them, but if we canreduce that down, we'll reduce
the resources and everythingin the process. So even the
simplest things, any residentslistening now, I want you to
know you're doing amazing. Itseems such a little thing. But
you are really helping. Yeah,I think you're right and it's
(09:44):
a brilliant message to get outthere for people that actually
these small changes do make adifference and we can feel
that, you know, we're sort ofempowered to make those small
changes. I know for myself,like I try, Really hard to do
the right thing by the planet.So if I forget to take a
reusable cup with me, when Igo to a coffee shop, I kind
(10:05):
of, I, you know, sort of tellmyself off and I get quite
annoyed with myself that I'veforgotten, but all of those
times where I did remember myreusable cup, all of those
times where I've chosen tostay in the coffee shop or
indeed for another matterwhere you've just had a drink
at home, you know, so you haveto think of all those things
that you have done. And howthey add up. And of course,
(10:27):
that's just you. There'sbillions of people in the
world. So, you know, all ofthem, hopefully, are trying to
do their little bit. I say aquote quite often in my talks.
only one plastic bottle saideight billion people. But you
can reverse that. If youreduce your plastic bottle
(10:49):
use, you're reversing it,which is absolutely amazing.
So I'm saving one bottle. If 8billion people said that, we
wouldn't have a problem withsingle-use plastics. This is
true. It's definitely the casethat collective action does
make a difference. I mean,yeah, there are other things
that we can do if we want to,you know, we can maybe speak
(11:12):
to our local supermarket, wecan ask them about packaging
and things like that if wewant to sort of go to that
level, but just sort of doinga small amount, which is
positive for the planet, itreally does help, definitely.
Yeah, it does. And of course,all the things that you do in
(11:33):
your job, talking to people,educating them on, you know,
the correct way to recycle inCheshire East. And of course,
you know, we do see here atAnswer that obviously
sometimes mistakes do happen.You know, people do sometimes
put the wrong things in theirrecycle bin. And in fact, the
podcast that I released, orthe last podcast that we
(11:56):
released, We were looking atcontamination as some of the
recent contamination itemsthat had come through in
recent pictures. That's alwaysdifficult to see but it's also
reminding people that actuallyMistakes can happen and people
are, I think in the majorityof cases, trying to put the
(12:18):
right things in the bin, youknow, they're trying to get it
right, you know, and that's,you know, it's fantastic when,
you know, people are trying tomake that difference. Do you
think it's worth giving peoplea little reminder of what
things can go into your silverrecycling bin? I'm putting you
on the spot now, but I bet youknow off the top. I do know
this off by heart, Hazel. It'squite easy. You can narrow
(12:42):
everything down, thematerials, to five basic
materials. So you've got yourglass, your plastic, paper,
cardboard and tin or metal,aluminium, that kind of thing.
So there are the five things.There are other things that
fall in grey areas. I'd justlike to mention the two main
ones, plastic. If it's got anymalleability, if it can be
(13:05):
moved or squeezed in any way,grey bin or silver bin if we
want to be posh. If it's hardplastic that's rigid that
won't move, black bin. Samewith film, film's even easier.
So that's the squeeze test. Dothe stretch test with
cellophane, film, anythinglike that. So if you pull a
(13:26):
bit of film and it snaps andit bangs when you pull it and
it doesn't stretch, that'sfine for the gray bin.
Anything like bubble wrap,cling film that stretches when
you pull it, black bin. Soit's squeeze test and stretch
test and that's your film andyour plastic sorted, really.
(13:46):
No, that's really good. Ithink it's a good way of kind
of indicating. How peopleknow, as you say, plastic is
one that can trip people up alittle bit. And I think maybe
another thing that some peopleare unsure on is making sure
that things that go in thesilver bin or as you say, grey
(14:07):
bin, silver bin, sometimes wecall it a silver bin because
it sounds much posher thatway. The things that go in
there do need to be clean andthey do need to be dry as
well. So I think if your tinof beans has still got loads
of beans in it, that's notgoing to work for the silver
bin, that will contaminate it.So eat your beans up, don't
(14:31):
waste them if you can avoid itand make sure it's clean
before you put that tin. Itdoesn't have to be so
sparkling that you can use itas a mirror, but it does need
to be free from that foodcontamination, doesn't it?
Yeah. Yeah. Another onethat's, that's springing into
my mind is, is, is that leaveit loose message as well,
(14:54):
which I have shared on themost recent podcast for this
one is that, you know, I thinkthat's another thing that
people sometimes aren't sureon. So they might put a load
of wonderful recycling insidea tied bag and then
unfortunately, yeah. There isa funny story I share in my
(15:14):
talk. I'm not quite sure whogot it. Actually over them,
but have heard the story thatsomeone had put shredded paper
in a bag tied to top. Wecouldn't see through it. And
when the lads manually soughtthe recycling at the depot at
Middlewich, there'd been a bigcraft project with lots of
glittering. So as I hear it,the lorry backs into the
(15:39):
depot. Tips it's load out,this bag falls from the top,
bursts open, shower a glitterall over people. It's quite
funny and they never lived itdown but it's a good example
that is of leave it loose.Don't tie things in bags that
we can't see because we needto get in there and pull out
all the things that shouldn'tbe in there like teddies and
(16:02):
nappies, things like that. Andthen when it's accurate it can
then go off to the recycleplant But we need to know
what's in the bin, so that'swhy we ask you leave it loose.
Absolutely. I mean, I'm surethey look beautiful covered in
glitter. But on the negativeside, it probably wasn't
biodegradable glitter, so notso good for planet Earth. I
(16:23):
mean, I'm sure they lookedreally festive, but yeah, not
so good for planet Earth.Glitter, of course, can't be
recycled for your silverrecycling bin. So if you have
done a craft project, couldn'tgo in your silver bin anyway,
could it? You'd be better offReusing, you know, like, so
obviously we've got thefestive season coming up, of
course. So glitter on cards,if you do have glitter on your
(16:47):
cards, I mean, a lot of cardsare sold now without glitter
because obviouslymanufacturers are kind of
getting into the idea of,well, people don't necessarily
want glittery cards. I knowsome people might do, but if
you've got glittery cards, youcan't put it in your silver
bin, can you? No. So that'sanother one. So that bag full
(17:08):
of glittery paper wasdefinitely in the wrong bin.
But it's a really good exampleactually, that is, sort of
kind of thinking about, youknow, when you put your stuff
in the bin, things happen toit after that. It hasn't just
gone in the bin and then, youknow, faded from existence.
(17:30):
There's an ongoing kind ofjourney for that waste that I
think I suppose it can be,maybe it's difficult for
people to kind of think aboutthat ongoing journey because
they put it in the bin, done,but there's more that happens.
I was talking to somebody at acommunity event that you and I
(17:52):
did, I think it was Conglesand Green Fair, and I was
talking to her a little bitabout contamination and she
seemed quite surprised thatAbout the amount of recycling
that we process. Can youremember how many recycle bins
we empty? I really am puttingyou on the spot. Or just how
(18:13):
many houses we serve inCheshire East? I think it is
250,000, something like that.It might be a bit more than
that. We do serve a lotthough. We do. I wanted to
make point but it's gone nowso keep talking and it'll come
back to you. It is, it's amassive amount of houses, it's
a huge amount of bins so thereis a lot of waste to process
(18:38):
isn't there? Yeah there is.What I have found when I've
been doing talks a lot ofresidents have said they
hardly fill their black binnow, they're really good at
recycling and reusing. So weare doing very well. We're one
of the top 10 performingcouncils in the UK for recycle
(18:59):
rates and accuracy. So that'ssomething to be proud of. It
is definitely, definitely.Yeah, I think it is. It's
encouraging to see that peopleare trying to do the right
thing. And I think for mypart, because I'm the person
who creates social mediaposts, so I do see all of
(19:21):
those things that we found inrecycling that shouldn't be
there. Sometimes it can bequite disheartening and I'm
sure it must be sometimesdisheartening for the people
working in the waste transferstations when they're kind of
seeing all these things comingthrough. But of course, that
is just a small percentage.There are so many more people
that are Probably creatingpicture perfect recycling, you
(19:45):
know, but we don't takepictures of those ones. We
just take pictures of the onesthat aren't quite so shiny.
But yeah, brilliant. I wasjust thinking it's the ripple
effect that works. I'm onlyone person. We've just had
another colleague Welcome intothe team Matthew, he'll be
doing schools. But there's alot of people in the borough
(20:08):
that we need to let know thesemessages, which is why these
podcasts are brilliant. Andalso when I give talks, even
if I speak to just 10 people,they'll go home, tell their
friends, their families, andit'll have the ripple effect.
And they'll say, oh, can youcome and give us a talk at our
WI or at our Rotary orRoundtable? And that's where
(20:30):
the message is getting outthere. Definitely, definitely.
Well, thank you so much, Lisa.I really do appreciate you
taking the time to talk to metoday. And of course, it has
been very interesting andinformative as usual. Thank
you Hazel. So that was me,Hazel Lees-Dixon, talking to
Lisa Owen, who is a CommunityEngagement Officer for ANSA
(20:54):
Environmental Services. Thankyou so much for listening to
this episode and I will returnreally soon for another
episode. Bye for now.
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