Food Waste Action Week

Food Waste Action Week is an annual campaign organised by WRAP which brings organisations together to raise awareness of reducing household food waste. This year’s theme is Choose What You’ll Use.  

Throughout this week, the Waste Initiatives Team will be supporting the campaign to encourage people to only buy the food they need, for example, through buying loose fruit and vegetables wherever possible and unnecessarily purchasing promotional offers. WRAP have done research into this, showing that if apples, bananas and potatoes were all sold loose, 60,000 tonnes of food waste could be saved each year. This is around the same weight as 6 Eiffel Towers. 

Overall, around 4.7 million tonnes of edible food are thrown away each year by UK households. WRAP estimate that a household of four people could save £1,000 a year if they cut the food wasted at home.

Local Nature Recovery Strategy

The Leicestershire, Leicester, and Rutland Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) project is making significant progress, in collaboration with supporting authorities, neighbouring county councils, Natural England, Environment Agency, National Forest Company, Forestry Commission, Wildlife Trust, National Farmers Union, and various local trusts and organisations.

This strategy aims to identify and map existing important areas of biodiversity while engaging in a comprehensive, collaborative process to pinpoint potential areas that could become of importance for biodiversity and agree the priorities and measures required to recover nature.

Through workshops, webinars, a dedicated website, and surveys, stakeholders can actively participate and stay informed. The LNRS will guide land use and management decisions for landowners, developers, non-governmental organisations, and local authorities, encouraging landscape-scale improvements for nature, biodiversity and the wider environment.  

The strategy is set to be drafted by September 2024, with a public consultation scheduled for January 2025.  

Easter 

Easter is early this year, at the end of March, and Easter eggs may already have been purchased, but it’s good to remember that celebrating Easter doesn’t have to be wasteful. Whilst it’s always best to opt for minimal wrappings, most Easter egg packaging is recyclable now. We’ve put together a few tips, below, to guide you to a low-waste Easter.

Top tips for having a low-waste Easter :

• Look for Easter eggs with minimal packaging or even create your own 

• Remember to reuse or recycle the packaging from any eggs you receive - card, foil, and plastic moulds can all go in your kerbside recycling bin 

• Biscuit and sweet wrappers can’t be recycled at home but, along with crisp packets, can often be taken to supermarkets for soft plastics recycling. Visit Recycle Now to check where you can recycle your soft plastics 

• Recycle your Easter cards, avoiding glitter or any extra embellishments 

• Flowers, once past their best, can be composted at home or put in your garden waste collection 

• If you’re posting gifts, reuse packaging where you can. Shredded paper can be used in parcels to help protect gifts from any damage in transit 

• If you purchase Easter decorations, try to choose ones that can be reused each year 

• Plan any celebration meals to reduce food waste|Lesswaste  

Unlocking a Greener Future: The Power of Planting Native Trees 

Reducing your carbon footprint is a journey of many steps. One overlooked step is right in your back garden - planting trees. This single act not only helps store and capture carbon but has many other benefits such as improving water quality and creating vital wildlife habitats. Even a single tree can make a big difference. 

In the UK’s woodlands, a staggering 213 million tonnes of carbon is stored inside living trees. The leaves absorb carbon dioxide locking it away and contributing to carbon storage along with helping to maintain soil health which helps capture carbon too. However, trees go beyond carbon reduction. Doubling urban tree cover from 15% to 30% can cool cities by 0.4 degrees Celsius and in specific areas, by an astonishing 5.9 degrees. This can act as an important adaptation against rising temperatures due to climate change. 

Native trees, such as alder, silver birch, blackthorn and crab apple can provide essential shelter for wildlife. The cold months are an ideal time for tree planting, offering optimal conditions for establishing resilient roots as there is reduced stress from extreme temperatures. Remember to consider longer term maintenance and the suitability of the tree for your own garden. 

The best time to plant a tree was thirty years ago but the next best time is now! For more insights on planting native trees and information on funding and schemes explore resources from The Woodland Trust and Wildlife Trust. Let’s cultivate a greener legacy together!

Community Orchard Scheme

The county council’s Community Orchard scheme has given out over 300 heritage fruit trees to 30 successful projects across a number of local schools and parish councils. The trees have been planted to create new orchard for the local community or to help restore and boost an existing orchard. 

The scheme has been funded by the DEFRA Coronation Living Heritage Fund and further trees will be available for next year’s planting season to continue the success of the project 

Orchards and trees play a vital role in enriching our ecosystem and improving biodiversity. The new orchards will help community groups to make a real difference to our environment and play their part in making Leicestershire a cleaner and greener place to live and work. 

Groups who would like to apply for one of the tree packs should contact the council’s Forestry team on forestry@leics.gov.uk for free advice and guidance. Trees will be available for collection during National Tree Week in November. 

Stroll into spring

Now spring is on the way and we’re beginning to see longer daylight hours, many of us are creeping out of our winter hibernation and getting outside, including wildlife. Whilst being amongst nature and breathing in the fresh air is great for your mental wellbeing and physical health, it has also been found that there is a link between nature connectedness and pro- environmental behaviour.

However, although we may explore what Leicestershire has to offer, many of us tend to drive to a country park or a local nature reserve instead of walking or cycling there.

Our challenge to you this spring is to discover and explore what country parks, local nature reserves and other green space you have on your doorstep and then share this with neighbours and nearby family and friends. Whilst exploring the outdoors, you could use NatureSpot to record what wildlife you see to help record and safeguard wildlife.

 Discarded batteries

Following several recent fires at our Recycling and Household Waste Sites (RHWS) caused by incorrectly discarded batteries, we would like to take this opportunity to remind residents of how to safely dispose of batteries:  

• Never put any type of battery in your waste or recycling bins 

• Only recycle batteries by way of a dedicated collection service such as your local RHWS or a battery collection point in a supermarket 

• Remove batteries from broken devices where possible and recycle the device and battery separately 

• If this is not possible, recycle the whole device at your local RHWS or a larger electrical retailer 

Earth Day 

Earth Day, celebrated on 22 April each year, is an event dedicated to awareness about the various environmental challenges that face our planet. The theme of this year, ‘Planet vs. Plastics’ aims for a 60% reduction in plastic production by 2040, including phasing out single-use plastics by 2030 and combating the environmental impact of synthetic materials in fast fashion.

One of the best ways to connect with the Earth is through clean-ups. Go on a walk with a rubbish bag and help to clean up any plastic that you find. Perhaps you know of a nearby ditch or drainage area around the corner that is polluted with waste. Here is also some top tips to help reduce your single-use plastic waste:  

• Carry a reusable bottle

• Take a reusable coffee cup to work

• Carry reusable shopping bags

Species Recovery- Swift Action for Swifts providing nest sites in Leicestershire, more nest sites needed!

Swift numbers are in severe decline across the UK, down by 53% percent between 1995 and 2016, due to loss of breeding sites and the reduced numbers of flying insects due to in part the use of insecticides and pesticides and climate change. 

The Swift Action for Swifts project aims to reverse the decline in the numbers of the migratory birds by helping householders across the county to provide nesting sites, by the installation of specially built swift boxes and ‘callers’ to encourage the birds to locate the boxes and make their homes in them. 

We need more people to come forward with an interest in wanting Swift boxes on their property. We will assess each property for its suitability to receive a nest box and offer support to erect the box. From now until May is the best time for us to get boxes up, before the Swifts return from Africa to nest here in Leicestershire.  

If you are interested in the project, please contact environmentteam@leics.gov.uk  

 Spring Clean  

With the nights getting lighter and the temperatures increasing, your thoughts might turn to having a spring clean. Clearing away cobwebs and decluttering can give us all a boost. If you are looking for ways to do it without generating too much waste here are a few things you could consider:

• Do you have too many clothes, or they don’t fit? Why not donate or swap them or even try selling them (it’s easy to do online from the comfort of home).

• With larger household items which you no longer need such as furniture you could consider selling, swapping or upcycling to create something fabulous.

• Whilst cleaning, its best to avoid paper towels and wipes as they are single use and instead use cloths that you can wash and reuse.

• When it comes to cleaning products always try to use up what you have before buying new products.  

Enjoy the spring refresh and you can visit www.lesswaste.org.uk if you would like further tips or advice on what to do with items you no longer need and see if they can be reused, recycled or safely disposed of.