A Greener Festival

The UK Rubbish Mountain

The UK throws away 30 million tonnes of rubbish each year. Currently 60% could be recycled
5 million tons of food and 4.5 million tons of food packaging are thrown away each year
Sainsburys have just launched new compostable packaging on 500 of its ready meal brands and organic fruit & vegetables - removing millions of plastic trays and bags from landfil sites. Look for the green apple/arrow logo.
Asda has moved to its food distribution from road to rail to cut down on emissions
Tesco is also moving to rail and now awards loyalty points for customers who re-use carrier bags
The leading supermarkets spend £15 billion a year on packaging - so each household contributes £500 to this cost
17.5 billion plastic bags were handed out at supermarkets last year
Easter eggs are typically 14% chocolate and 86% packaging (Hampshire Trading Standards survey)
UK households throw away 460,000 tonnes of plastic bottles each year

Src: The Times, 08/09/06

Try and be environmentally efficient
Composting is even better than recycling
Almost everyone can compost at home
Lobby your council for free composting bin
Support shops with green policies - especially if they are using green packaging, selling fair trade goods and have green distribution policies.