3 things to get this party started

Here are three things I'd like to tell you about.

1. As I've mentioned before (in graphic detail) we compost in our house. It's very good fun. But it's a little inconvenient to take potato peelings or banana skins or Tesco's compostible packaging out into the garden as and when. It's nicer to store them up and then take them all out at once. That's a better use of time. So I looked everywhere for a kitchen compost pot, or a compost-before-it-goes-to-the-garden holder thing, but I couldn't find one. So I made do with this little tupperware box instead.

It does the job perfectly. It has a little flap for slipping in a tea bag and a big lid for emptying the thing. But still, you would have thought that someone would have designed such a thing, wouldn't you? You know, to encourage people to compost.

2. We drink a lot of milk in my house. So much milk that I ended up having to pick up an extra pint almost every night on the way home. This combination of bad household management and post Tube forgetfulness anger led to me stopping a milkman and asking if he delivered to our street. He did and now we have lovely milk delivered straight to the door. And of course it's absolutely brilliant.

I suspect millions have people have said this before but it's reminded me what a brilliant system a milkman is. Those glass bottles are wonderful things, much more sustainable than all that plastic and we're reusing them too! On the Refuse, Reuse, Recycle scale a milkman is firmly in the Reuse bit.

Which reminds me that new isn't always better, and this tugs at a thought I've got that we've probably already got a lot of the climate change/ sustainability / design solutions it's just that we threw them out in the name of 'progress' or more likely 'revenue' and 'sales targets'. But it's not just that, you instantly trust your milkman more than Tescos and you've very quickly got a decent relationship with him. I don't want to be the billionth person to bore you with the suggestion that milkman should deliver post and parcels and so on, but this reminded me of the Yakult Ladies. Yakult Ladies deliver Yakult in Japan in a similar way to how we deliver milk in the UK. Except they do much more than that, in some instances they have the keys to your house and they pop in and put the Yakult in the fridge. They also do something Yakult calls 'Social Activity Born of Delivery Work' [scroll down]. Brands, you could learn a lot from that.

3. Lastly, I've started a DVD rental website.

It's called eBay. Here's how it works; say you were reminded by Wil's illustration that you'd always meant to watch Any Given Sunday. Log on to eBay and buy it. It's gets delivered direct to your door in a few days, total cost - a couple of quid. When you've watched the film, sell it again. You could even use the same envelope if you wanted. You'll sell it for, ooh, a couple of quid, making the whole transaction fiscally neutral to you. Obviously newer DVD's cost a bit more, older ones a bit less, but repeat forever and you're effectively getting DVD rental for, err, nothing.

I've been doing this for a few months now and it works like a dream. I know you have to wait a few days for the film to be delivered and I know (shock horror) that the DVDs are second hand, but when I hear friends' tales of woe regarding Lovefilm or Amazon DVD Rental I can't resist a little chuckle to myself.

This is a brilliant unproduct idea. No more stuff is being created and yet money is still being passed through the system fulfilling the urge humans have to spend and greasing the wheel of capitalism at the same time. More money, no more stuff. Surely the Holy Grail?

Welcome to 2008.

Comments

[anon]

actually, somebody already does. you just have to live in hackney. or islington.

http://www.hackney.gov.uk/blue_bin.htm
http://www.islington.gov.uk/Environment/RubbishAndRecycling/recycling/Greenwaste/food_waste/

[Graeme]

We have a similar little blue bin to put our waste in as well. It even has a sticker on either side illustrating what to put in and what to keep out. I think we got it from here:

http://www.recyclenow.com/home_composting/composting/accessories.html

[Jonathan]

I seem to remember that Infinity Foods in Brighton either sold a kitchen composter or had leaflets for one. And while I remember, I'm sure Brighton and Hove Council sold them...

[Mac]

You weren't the comic genius behind the 'aren't taxis just brilliant?!' Fast Show sketch by any chance?

Waiting with bated breath for the 'aren't coats warm?!' post...

[Steve O]

We get a small, green, lidded bucket to put compostable waste in here in South Cambs, but I like yours better. Keeps the smells at bay.
Love the idea of rental through ebay, but that level of trust is hard for a lot of people I imagine.

[lauren]

great [com]post ben! and i'm actually looking forward to the 'aren't coats warm?!' post.

i had an 'oh damn, we progressed ourselves out of a sustainable solution' moment the other day, watering the garden with grey water from a watering can (thanks to water restrictions).

and i'm jealous that living in london (or some other high-density city) means that milkmen are, indeed, part of a sustainable solution. out here, where it can be several kms and litres of fuel between houses, milkmen are, sadly, no longer a sustainable option.

[David Airey]

I feel bad for those childhood pranks I played on the local milkman.

Refreshing post Ben. Here's to a great 2008 for you.

[Richard]

Thanks Ben. The kitchen pre-composter is just what I've been looking and it's been right under my nose.

We do the ebay thing, although hadn't really thought about it in quite the same way but really like your angle on it. We also buy a lot of stuff from car boot sales during the summer. Not just the stuff I post on Ace Jet. Our boys get lots of toys. It took my a wife a little time to get over the secondhand stigma and she sometimes feels the need to sterilise stuff but it's good because, as you suggest, a) we're re-using, b) stuff's cheap, c) we re-sell it but also d) we get stuff not currently commercially available. After your post I'll do it with greater verve and a clearer conscience.

And, milkmen over here deliver at night! Isn't that weird?

Oh and, this is nothing to do with sustainability, just about a great service: Jim the Fish comes to our door every Tuesday morning to sell us kippers and salmon. We love Jim the Fish, he rules!

[ben hanbury]

what does "unproduct" mean? I'm intrigued!

[Tom]

We just use a stainless steel bowl. it takes about a days worth of fruit, tea leaves and veg choppings so the smell never gets too bad.

And it matches our ikea cutlery holders! :)

[Prof. Prague]

What a brilliant post. In the U.S. mail DVD rental giant is developing a technology that would allow you to download dvds directly from the internet through a little box on the top of your television. Even less hassle than normal netflix and way less risk/hassle of the Ebay method.

[joe]

Except for the fuel used up by the vans transporting DVDs all around the country. But I'm nitpicking.

[Emily]

I know of a little green composter box, no - i've just checked the link - they call it a kitchen caddy, which i got from the Natural Collection for my dad who used to collect his kitchen waste in a plastic bag hooked on the end of the counter which i found particularly gross.
http://www.naturalcollection.com/natural-products/Kitchen-Caddies-For-Organic-Waste.aspx
This one has a carbon filter which is meant to eliminate odour.
If you're looking for something prettier than plastic then check out these ceramic compost crocks:
http://www.gardeners.com/Kitchen-Compost-Crock/-/13006.prd

...i live in Hackney and use the little blue kitchen waste box provided me by the Council which I fill twice a week (and decant into the big one outside) and which am very happy with. Go Hackney!

[Adam]

Another place you can get the ceramic crock is here:
http://www.lakeland.co.uk/product.aspx/!20428

I have one and it's a good size and easy to clean (although a little fragile).

[Ben]

Looks like I didn't look hard enough!

[Rob]

I've seen a kitchen composter that was made of ceramic, and was in the shape of a traditional metal dustbin - only mini. It was really cute, but I can't remember where I saw it. I'll have a look...

[Rob]

WOOHOO!!!

Found it: http://www.cleanairgardening.com/ceramic-compost-crock.html

and they do a metally one:
http://www.cleanairgardening.com/pail.html

Lovely, I think.

[James Greig]

Just reading your bit about Milk Bottles Ben. I too love the idea of milk bottles, firstly they look better on the breakfast table, you open them by pushing your thumb through the lovely foil, which then make great collage material as a kid. An of course, the bottles are re-used, about 20 times according to Brighton council.

But I do wonder about glass milk bottles, stemmed mainly from my Dad talking about working in the dairy industry. When we're done with the milk, the bottle goes back to base, of which there are now fewer in the country due to 'streamlining' so they're transported further than before. Then they're washed and refilled, and as we know more about bugs in milk, the bottles are washed for longer, hotter and with more chemicals to remove the nasties, using quite some energy.

I don't know how much a glass bottle weighs, but it's more than a plastic one. So transport emissions would also be higher per pint of milk I'm assuming.

Breaking it down like this, milk bottles don't sound that great, I don't know if they are still better than plastic (if recycled). I would like to know though. I've spent 20 minutes Googling lifecycle analysis of glass verses plastic but haven't found anything of worth. Anyone with any ideas?

As a really nice solution to milk packaging I like this, http://www.calonwen-cymru.com/eco-pak/ from a dairy near my home in Wales.

Be good to know more about this, I'll have a think...

[James Greig]

Oh, I don't have a vendetta against milk men, they provide a very green service and were the first to run electric vehicles.

One day milk float, next a Prius.

[Loïc]

About the DVD thing, no more product is good, but no more money is quite good too.
Let me explain: when you've seen a movie and you don't want to keep the object, just trade it with someone.
And instead of sending it with the big unuseful plastic box, send it naked in a small square piece of paper, and it won't cost you more than a simple letter.
You could have a system of points you earn when you send a DVD, and these points would allow you to order new films.
Well, as a matter of fact it's not my idea, it already exists here:
http://www.cinetroc.com
and I've been using it for more than a year, while I've received 108 plastic discs, and sent 125.

Of course you pay a small 6 € from time to time, but it's apretty good business in many ways I think.

[Melanie]

A whole host of kitchen caddy, composting type thingies.
http://www.recyclenow.com/home_composting/composting/accessories.html

[Toni]

I live in Bristol and our council provide us with a brown compost bin for the kitchen and a larger matching version to go outside for the recyclers. I prefer the sound of the blue Hackney one though, I'm not big on brown.
I'm afraid I wouldn't have the patience to wait for my films to arrive through ebay -great idea though.