Archive for the ‘Recycling’ Category

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Making recycling fashionable – Interview with Kresse from E&K

Monday, April 26th, 2010
Recycled Accessories – how E& K made recycling fashionable

Check out this video interview with Kresse Wesling on Ethical TV. Kresse formed Elvis & Kresse, the people who manufacture and supply us here at ECOutlet with our Slider Belt, Skinny Stitch Belt, Fire Hose Cufflinks and Fire Hose Wash Bag.

Using redundant materials including retired fire hoses and old parachutes, Elvis & Kresse make stunning lifestyle accessories which have been designed to last. As a social enterprise they also donate 50% of the profits back to the Fire Fighters Charity.

It’s all inspiring stuff and great for everyone (me included) to put a face to the brand.

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Posted in Eco Websites, Green Media, Recycling | No Comments »

Energy Efficient Washing Machine? We just Sust-it

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

Energy Efficient Washing MachineAfter a good old innings our hand-me-down washing machine finally threw in the towel last week and retired from service.

Being fans of all things second hand and vintage we did ponder initially on searching Freecycle or Ebay for a cheaper, older model but soon came to the conclusion that a new energy efficient machine was the wisest long-term move in terms of saving energy and money.

Having gone on about Sust-it on here before and to friends over the years, this was the first time I personally had the opportunity to use the site for advice on making a purchase.  The conclusion?? Fantastic, Sust-it is in my opinion, a highly useful resource for anyone looking at electrical purchases.

465 washing machines are in the database and all are ranked in terms of their energy efficiency.  Best available prices are listed on everything also so you can match your budget to the most energy efficient model.

To be honest, having not made a major new electrical purchase in several years we were a little worried our cash-strapped January budget wouldn’t stretch to a very efficient model but after browsing the site for a while we opted for the BEKO WM7335 which is ranked 5th out of 465 in terms of annual running costs.

Sust-it gave us a full comparison of the environmental and financial running costs – litres of water used, power used, annual CO2 emissions and running costs per year.  The BEKO WM7355 has annual CO2 emissions of 103.01 kg based on 250 cycles.  The old machine (which was very old indeed) was taken away for recycling and was a Hoover model not listed on Sust-it.   The best performing Hoover washing machine on there emits 120.18 kg CO2 a year so at a rough estimate we’re at least 15% more efficient at washing clothes than we were last year.

Gone but not forgotten – before waving him off to recycling heaven, we also managed to do a spot of recycling ourselves and transformed the old glass door into a handy bowl for all that fruit we’ve resolved to eat in 2010.

Washing Machine Fruit Bowl

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Posted in Carbon Footprint, Eco Tips, Eco Websites, Energy Saving, Green Living, Recycling, Water Saving | No Comments »

One mans rubbish is another mans rubbish bin….

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Magno Chutney Rubbish Bin

Check out our new bling bling Magno Chutney rubbish bin which we recently found abandoned on the streets of Brick Lane. When we spotted it, the empty container was lying on the side of the road with a load of other rubbish waiting for the binmen to cart it off to landfill.

Magpie Marco was instantly drawn to the bright colours and after a quick clean up in the shower it’s now looking well smart in the kitchen.  Someone commented on Twitter when they saw the pic that perhaps the manufacturers should incorporate the dual purpose into the design which is not a bad idea, its very fit for purpose and after hunting in the shops for a suitable bin for some time now, our freebie re-used little number is a more than welcome addition to our home.

Posted in ECOutlet, Green Living, Packaging, Recycling, Waste Reduction | No Comments »

Recycle Week – What’s your pledge?…

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

Recycle Week - Whats your pledge?

Recycle Week starts today, June 22nd and this years message ‘Let’s waste less’ is encouraging everyone to try something new in an effort to cut back on waste and reduce the amount of rubbish we send to landfill.

I’m pledging to recycle my old clothes which haven’t been worn for a while (inspired by Mary Queen of Charity Shops!).  I’m also going to get a lot stricter on food packaging this week and not buy anything over-packaged and finally one of my pet hates is seeing cans and plastic bags littering the street outside so whenever I spot any I’m going to take them home and recycle them.  And of course, it will be business as usual with all my usual recycling duties.

Over to you now!… what’s your pedge going to be?

Posted in Packaging, Recycling, Waste Reduction | No Comments »

Cool Cardboard Kits…..

Friday, April 3rd, 2009

Cardboard Toys

Over the past few weeks we’ve introduced a great new range of cardboard toys to the kids section.  Ranging in price from just £2.99 up to £49.99 there’s something to cater for all budgets and occasions.

We’re really charmed by these new additions as cardboard is such a fantastic material for childrens toys.  It’s light and flexible yet very strong and durable.  A lot of the models also come as blank canvases so kids can put their own stamp on them and let their artistic imaginations take over when decorating them.
Best of all though is the recyclability of cardboard.  As we all know, at some stage everyone grows out of their favourite playtime accessory and when that happens, unlike plastic which usually ends up in landfill, cardboard is easily and fully recyclable.

Posted in ECOutlet Products, Green Kids, Recycling, Sustainable Toys | No Comments »

CD Recycle…..

Friday, September 19th, 2008

CD Recycling

One of the problems living in a digital age is that it’s never too long before the next big thing comes along rendering the last big thing obsolete.  Before were we had VHS Tapes and CD’s these days UK households are equipped with Sky boxes, MP3 and DVD Players.  The result being that for many of us we have mountains of unwanted and unused VHS tapes and CD’s sitting on shelves at home gathering dust.

If that sounds familiar it is now possible and very straight forward to recycle your unwanted CD’s, DVD’s or even Video tapes rather than sending them to landfill.  The Laundry CD Recycling will accept any amount of CD’s or DVD’s including the plastic case and inlay cards.  Polymer Recycling is another company who recycle CD’s and if you’re a business they will arrange to collect them for free too.  Failing that you could always donate them to a charity shop where they’ll find a new home or for some more imaginative ideas check out these two posts on How Can I Recycle This? for plenty of suggestions on CD and VHS recycling.

Finally if you know any professional or ex-professional video documenters, another site which we came across, Creative Video Associates deals with professional video tapes and will help clear out old tape archives without sending them to landfill.

Posted in Eco Tips, Eco Websites, Recycling, Waste Reduction | No Comments »

Tyreing work….

Monday, June 16th, 2008

Recycling Tyres

Sorry, excuse the pun but cutting a tyre in half made my arms go all wobbly and took three hours to finish! Little did I know (probably as I’ve never had a car) that tyres are held together with very very thick wire!
Yes, this is ECOutlet’s latest quest to bring you innovative new products which help reduce our impact on landfill.

My local garage had a stack of tyres outside which were destined for the dump and kindly donated one so we’ve been wearing our thinking caps today and seeing how we could recycle them.  We’re only at the experimental stage right now but stay tuned as we plan to keep you updated on our wheely good work!

For the adventurous and self-sufficient out there, I found this useful link on how to make sandals out of old tyres and for a wealth of other ideas, the ever useful How can I recycle this? has a list of suggestions from users on how to reuse old tyres.

Posted in ECOutlet, ECOutlet Products, Eco Tips, Recycling | No Comments »

Radio 1 Big Recycling Weekend…

Tuesday, May 13th, 2008

Radio 1 Big Weekend

We were lucky enough to receive a couple of tickets to the Radio 1 Big Weekend down in Maidstone last Saturday.  The sun was shining, the beer was flowing and everyone there was in high spirits, a really good day out.

Given the very high temperatures we had to partake of a few beers ourselves and it was nice to see some effort was being made to reduce the amount of waste our thirsty appetites produced on the day.  Next to the main beer tent there was a recycling centre where 10p was given back for every paper cup which was returned.  Just like when I was a young lad and used to return my neighbours lemonade bottles to the shop to buy sweets there was a double whammy of satisfaction knowing my paper cup was going to be recycled and I was getting my next beer for that little bit less.  I actually took my recycling duties very seriously on the day and managed to collect between 10 and 20 paper cups off the grass every time I returned to the beer area.

As the day went by, everyone started catching on to the idea and come the late afternoon there were lines of people queuing up at the recycling bank to hand in the pint sized cups they had collected from all around the site.  Such a good win-win idea.  I’ve not been to any other festivals for a long time but it would be nice to think the same practise is in operation at other events this summer and I dont see any reason why it should’nt be extended to cans or bottles too.  Perhaps for some on Saturday, the idea of cheap beer made recycling an attractive option but whatever the reason it was evident that given a little incentive lots of people are more than happy to get involved and do their bit.

Posted in Green Events, Recycling | No Comments »

Rock a bye eco baby…

Thursday, April 24th, 2008

Eco Cradle - Sustainable Living Solutions

It’s probably got something to do with approaching 35 and the fact most of my friends are up there with me but whatever the reason almost simultaneously over the last year or so everyone seemed to decide that this was the time to start having babies.  Pablo, Alfie, Poppy, Gulia, Finn, Stella, Rosa, Mila and Mia……they’ve all shown up recently and said hello for the first time.

Having seen the impact new arrivals can have on a household and the amount of requirements they have; nappies, clothes, buggy, car seat, toys and furniture, we were very impressed when we first laid eyes on the Eco Cradle, a sustainable sleeping solution for a new babies first few months in the home.

Made entirely from cardboard, the Eco Cradle is light, it’s flat pack, can be put together and taken apart again in a matter of seconds and it’s completely recyclable. What we like most is the flexibility it offers, it travels well so if the family are off to visit the grandparents for the weekend it can fold away and come along for the journey too. When the little one has outgrown it, unlike a moses basket or wooden structure, the Eco Cradle simply folds away neatly until the next baby comes along or if you’ve decided that’s it no more babies, it can go in with the recycling bringing a whole new dimension to the phrase cradle to cradle.

Posted in ECOutlet Products, Green Kids, Recycling | No Comments »

Spring Cleaning……

Wednesday, March 12th, 2008

Spring Cleaning Eco Style

This period of the year is traditionally the time when we give our homes a little overhaul and spruce things up with a spring clean. For the domestic among us we’ve come up with a few short tips to help make the yearly workout a little more eco-friendly:

  • Rather than chucking stuff out give it a new home, what’s rubbish to one person might be very useful to someone else. Check out sites like Freecycle, Preloved and Rehomeyourstuff to give your goods a new home and keep them out of landfill.
  • Dust down the coils at the back of your fridge. If the pipes on the back are covered in dust this can act as an insulator and can waste up to 30% extra electricity. A quick once-over with the duster will correct this, saving you some money and keeping the fridge in better shape.
  • While you’re down there, defrost the fridge which will improve efficiency and if there are any large gaps in there, fill with newspapers to further enhance the efficiency.
  • Turn the central heating thermostat down a couple of degrees. It might be a little too chilly still to switch the heating off altogether but outdoors temperatures have picked up a little so your heating should reflect this.
  • If re-arranging furniture, make sure nothing is in front of the radiators and if appropriate and you’re a DIY-er, fit shelves above them as this will deflect heat into the room.
  • Switch to chemical free cleaning. Eco Balls are a perfect replacement for traditional laundry detergents and will reduce the amount of chemicals going into the water supply. Similarly E-Cloths allow you to switch from chemical cleaning to cleaning with just water. They are particularly effective on hard surfaces such as glass, chrome or stainless steel and will definitely come in handy if you are planning a major cleaning frenzy.
  • If you’re a cyclist give the bike a service or take it to the nearest bike shop for one. It may cost a few quid but will save you money in the long run and make for a more comfortable and safer ride in the coming months.
  • Introduce a few new house plants to your home. These can help improve the air quality in rooms and they look nice too!

Posted in Eco Tips, Eco Websites, Energy Saving, Recycling | No Comments »

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