The Vyouz Network Launches USA Reuse Websites

British organisation The Vyouz Network has been the first to launch not one, but two, brand-new reuse websites in the USA on the same day. The anticipated launch of Born Recycling (www.bornrecycling.com) and Student Cycle (www.studentcycle.com) was today confirmed as both sites went live at 17:00 BST.

The new reuse websites are based on the Network's existing websites bornrecycling.co.uk and studentcycle.co.uk which were launched recently in the UK. At the heart of each of these websites is the unique concept of "virtual skips", known as "virtual dumpsters" in the USA. The Vyouz Network first introduced the UK to the idea of virtual skip diving when it launchedvSkips in January 2004. Since then, tens of thousands of the British public have embraced the idea as a viable alternative to sending unwanted waste to landfill via real skips. The US equivilent, vDumpsters, was released in December 2007 and has since gained an impressive following among environmentally concerned Americans.

It is hoped that the new sites, Born Recycling and Student Cycle, will compliment vDumpsters in the same way that the UK versions have done vSkips.

A spokesperson for The Vyouz Network said today: "vSkips and vDumpsters are great for reusing, well... just about anything, but Born Recycling and Student Cycle are designed to be much more targetted. In the case of Born Recycling, we're hoping that parents with babies and small children will find it a useful place to give away and find unwanted items like prams, pushchairs, high chairs, toys and so forth. Student Cycle on the other hand is rather like vSkips and vDumpsters - pretty much anything can be given away or picked up for free - except this site is specifically aimed at those in education, particularly university students who are known for leading the way in recycling."

With a solid Social Networking platform built in to all the Vyouz websites, and with sites like Facebook and Twitter becoming more popular each day, it's easy to see how parents and students will enjoy using the new websites not only to recycle, but also to connect with like-minded individuals online.

Taking Down the Chicken Coop

Today Bex and I dismantled the chicken coop. I’m glad we did because every time I walked past it brought back memories of the chickens. You see, we got rid of them a couple of weeks ago. They were no longer laying and they were costing us a fortune in layer’s pellets. The whole purpose of having the chickens was to for us to live a greener life, to cut down on the need to buy eggs from the supermarket. In the end we found we were still having to buy eggs, although we are getting them from a local farmer now. It was a hard decision to make, but we really couldn’t justify the resources needed to keep feeding and looking after them. It was, I believe, the logical thing to do. But somehow I can’t help thinking it was wrong. On the up-side, we don't get woken every morning by their cackling (as if to announce they had laid, but they never had). Also, we can go on holiday an not worry about having someone look after them.

Giving the Chickens the Chop

The darned things keep cackling every morning as some unearthly hour. All indications are they are laying eggs, but when I check there are none. Occasionally there is a solitary eggs, but by the time I get to it one of the chickens has smashed it. I’ve had enough, it’s costing me a fortune to feed them. My neighbor keeps pigeons and has no problem culling them each year. He’s offered to give the chickens the chop. I just need to say when.

Recycled Kitchen Furniture

We collected this lovely oak dresser from a lady called Brenda today. It's a beautiful piece of furniture and fits in just perfectly to our country cottage kitchen. In fact it looks like it's always been there.

We located the dresser using vSkips - www.vskips.co.uk - it was being offered FREE for collection along with some other items.

Becky has always wanted a dresser, so she was over the moon when Brendan and I brought it home for her.

Walk the Dog

This is the latest addition to our menagery. His name is Fudge and he is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. He's a "black and tan" dog, although he has some white markings which I suppose technically makes him a "tricolour". Either way, he's cute, although quite a rascal.

It sounds sad, but I got Fudge for no other reason than company, and that he is proving to be. He's a very affectionate little chap.

How "green" is it to keep a dog ? To be honest I don't really know. In terms of what he needs there's not a lot. There's his food, a few toys, a collar and lead and a blanket and basket, none of which seem to have a high impact on the environment.

We buy food in recycled / recyclable tins or aluminium sachets. His toys are recycled - ones that baby Madison no longer plays with. His blanket is also a reused one, which he sleeps on in an old wash basket which seems just as good as any "proper" dog basket we would buy from a shop. I've put out a Wanted ad for a whicker basket on www.vskips.co.uk which would be nice for him because he could chew it!

Yesterday we all took Fudge for a walk. Well, more of a carry actually as he didn't seem to want to move despite treats. I tried him again today and he walked a little further, but spent most of the time sniffing the ground for other dogs!

Cleaning Out the Chickens

Cleaning the chicken coop is something I used to have to do every week. But since moving to a smaller house in March, and getting rid of half of the hens, the coop doesn't get nearly as dirty as before.


Moving house was necessary for personal reasons, but I must say that it surprised us how "ungreen" the excercise was. The amount of junk we had accumulated over 7 years in the same house was astronomical! What we couldn't recycle or compost we ended up skipping which broke my heart.


I'm happy to say though, that we are getting quite settled in our new home. The chickens have a new coop (previously a dog kennel used by the vet who used to live here). It's smaller than before, hence the need to trim down on the number of chickens. This time they didn't end up as Sunday roast, but were given a new home by Len who will keep them as layers.

We're slowly getting back to our normal "green" selves. It took a while to get the compost system working again, but now we have 2 big bins outside which accepts all our compostable waste, including the used chicken bedding. I use sawdust rather than hay for the chicken coop because it keeps parasites at bay. With less chickens it gets less "poo-ey" too, so there's not so much for digging into the vegetables. Not that we have a vegetable patch yet. Unlike the last house, this one does not have such a large garden, so growing veggies at home is not an option. Instead we have acquired 3 huge allotments from the council which we plan to dig over and plant early next year. We did hope to do it sooner, but there's been too much work to do around the new house and garden.

I'm happy to say that the chickens like their new home and are still laying well. This is proving most popular with the new neighbours who are very friendly. The guy next door has an allotment which produces well and he swaps eggs for vegetables - great while we are waiting for our allotment to get going.

Week 3... Or is it 4 ?

Today I am asking myself the perplexing question: "Why, when it comes to matters relating to waste disposal, recycling and composting, are there seemingly no standards between UK Councils?" Is it a case of "standards are there to be broken" or is there simply no "best practice" policy in place?


As an example, consider my compost bin. Like many people I have a green bin supplied by my council. I had one when I lived in Derbyshire, and I have one in my new home in Nottinghamshire. My Derbyshire bin was collected without fail every 2 weeks. My Nottinghamshire bin collection is rather a hit-and-miss affair. The frequency at which it is collected varies between 2 weeks, 3 weeks or 4 weeks. I call it "bin roulette". The odd number (weeks 3) is there, I swear, to keep an element of anticipation and surprise in "the game".


Consider. There I am dozing in bed on an early Friday morning when my wife shrieks "the bin!" and leaps from the bed like her nightie is on fire. Too late! By the time she has half run, half fallen, down the stairs, unlock the front door and wheeled the bin from the front yard onto the road the bin lorry has passed our house and is now "officially" next door. The bin man looks aghast as my wife pleads with him to take her clippings, not because she is stood there in her nightie with no makeup but because he is "not allowed". We have to wait until another 2, 3 or 4 weeks for collection.


We simply never know when to put our green bin out, so we resort to watching the neighbours. When they put out their bins, we follow. Sometimes they are collected and we have a street hug in jubilation reminiscent of post-war street parties. We have beaten the enemy that is the bin lorry with it's bin men "following orders".


The irony is that our bin is actually "out" all the time. We don't have a front garden, just a row of pavers that lead directly onto the road. The bin is never more than 12 inches from it's official collection point - the road - which begs another question: When do I put my bin out? The night before? In which case my bin is on a public highway overnight, sitting there like a menacing green monster in dark ready to "leap out" on an unsuspecting motorist. You see, there are no working streetlights in my road - another of my niggles with my new council. I mustn’t grumble. This is probably just their idea of "energy efficient lighting". Remove the bulbs. Let the green monster patrol the dark. We all sleep better in our beds, at least until week 3 comes around again.


And so I resort to leaving my bin on the pavers, out of collision's way, awaiting the early morning shriek and dash as my wife realises we are back in "the game". Surprise surprise! Odd number wins. It's week 3 and we hear the rumble of the bin wagon. "The bin!" she shrieks and it all starts again.


Oh for the days of my old bin man from Derbyshire, when I could have a lay in safe in the knowledge that if I forgot to put out my bin he would walk down my long drive and wheel it to his lorry. No shrieks. No complaints. Just an empty bin ready for me to fill again with compostables.

Want to Buy a Rainforest?

Rainforests are the earth's "lungs". They produce 20% of the entire world's oxygen. Yet each year, thousands of acres of rainforests are cut down. We are literally suffocating the earth.

Businessman Johan Eliasch had plenty of money and was interested in saving the rain forests. So he bought one. Larger than the size of London, Johan's rainforest estate has more than 400,000 acres of trees. Well I got to thinking, "Wouldn't it be great if I could do the same thing?" Except I don't have that money. Thankfully, I can still make a difference.

Former Labour minister Frank Field contacted Johan and suggested setting up an international trust to protect the rainforest. The result was "Cool Earth". Harnessing mass people power, Cool Earth is an international trust that allows every individual, family, school, university, church, trade union, Women's Institute and youth group to "own" and protect part of the world's rainforest.

With your money, Cool Earth secures threatened rainforests. They place the forest into a local trust, and protect it 24/7. They employ local people to do the work, which helps to fund community health and education services.

http://www.coolearth.org

10 Tips For Saving Water

1. Check for leaks. If you have a water meter, take a reading and then don't use your water for a couple of hours. Then go back and check whether the meter still reads the same. If it's changed without you using any water then you have a leak.

2. Turn off the tap when cleaning your teeth, shaving or washing. Use a cup of water to rinse when cleaning your teeth. Fill (or partly fill) the basin when washing or shaving. You can waste can up to 9 litres a minute by leaving a tap to run.

3. Taking a short shower instead of a bath can save up to 400 litres of water a week! When you do have a bath, don't over fill them.

4. Fix that dripping tap! 90 litres of water is wasted EACH WEEK from a leaky tap. If you're on a water meter it will be cheaper to fix that leak than let it continue dripping!

5. Only fill your kettle with the amount of water you need. If you drink a lot of tea or coffee, consider getting a flask to store your daily hot drinking water in. Boil the kettle once at the start of the day, and replenish your drink from the flask.

6. Make sure your washing machines or dishwasher has a full load before turning it on. Water and energy are wasted when a machine is only half full.

7. For cold drinks, keep cool water in the fridge. This way you don't need to run the tap until the water runs cold.

8. Reduce the amount of water stored in your toilet cistern by placing a brick or similar sized object in it. 3 litres a flush.

9. Think before tipping used water down the drain. Could it be reused for watering plants around the house or garden?

10. Fit a waterbutt on your downpipes. Store rainwater for watering your garden.

Egg Production Increases 500%

Wow, egg output has dramatically risen today from 2 to 11 !! I make that over a 500 percent increase. Strangely there have been more eggs ever since we got rid of the cockrels, Rocky I and Rocky II. Len let them go free in a woodland near a stream. It was either that or the pot where Len's cockrel, Rocky III, ended up. The battery hens are looking really healthy now. It's hard to tell them apart from the other beige coloured hen from the original batch. The only telltale sign now is their clipped beaks from the battery farm.