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People living in the UK throw away well over 28 million tonnes per year of rubbish from their homes, the same as three and a half million double decker buses. Unfortunately, only 17% of this waste is recycled while almost all of the rest is tipped into landfill sites – large holes dug into the ground to store it. The rubbish stays in the ground for a long time because it does not decompose easily, and it releases poisonous materials and can be a hazard to humans and wildlife. THe space left for landfill is running out- would you like a big rubbish tip next to where you live?

So, we want to encourage you to recycle and reuse as much as you can. At school, buy recycled or sustainable products such as BE books. Use scrap paper to sketch on. And of course make sure cans, bottles and paper are sorted and recycled after use to stop them all being thrown away.

Wildlife Watch is a great website for kids and grown ups to learn about being more eco-friendly- of course, recycling and reusing, by playing games and checking out some great facts. Have a look!

Gardening for Wildlife is a book for families on how to create the perfect environment for wildlife without letting the entire garden grow wild! No matter the size of the garden, the book promotes plenty of ways on how you can assist the struggling wildlife population around the UK.

The book begins with an interesting selection of “Myth busting”, dismissing common points that aren’t true such as not all gardens are good for wildlife, or that each garden must have certain features to make it perfect for nature. These are thoughtfully dismissed with clever explanations on why from a basic but clear point of view, and most importantly how they can relate to your own garden.

The next sections describe the different types of wildlife and how you can encourage them. Gardening for Birds, lists all British birds in an extremely clear but detailed way with full colour photos. Their distribution, habitat and what they look for in terms of food and space to live are presented in a concise way. You can also find out about making feeders, nest boxes and encouraging different types of birds to visit. There are also sections on gardening for mammals, amphibians, bees, moths and more, all with detailed instructions on how to look after them.

The next part is probably my most favourite. There are sections on how to recreate your garden in the style of many natural habitats such as woodland, scrublands, healthlands and more with species that may be attracted to the garden. There are even parts on gardening for wildlife in a large or a very small garden. There are such varied amounts to choose from that you are sure to find what’s best for you no matter how large or small your garden may be!

The last section covers the top 400 plants for wildlife, again with detailed photos, descriptions and which insects are attracted to them. This makes for essential reading if you have an unidentified plant in your garden or simply want to find out about the best plants to grow to attract different wildlife. There is also a section on beneficial weeds, and even a brief section on invasive plants to watch out for and avoid!

The book concludes with a calendar of good practise for your garden on a month by month basis. Overall, for anyone wishing to make their garden as eco-friendly as possible by encouraging the local wildlife population it really is highly recommended reading. It contains almost everything you need to know about British plants and animals, and how to care for them inside your big – or small- garden.
For more information about this book please Click here.

Did you know that the 17th to the 21st May is the UK’s official Walk To School Week 2010, encouraging parents or teachers and children to walk from their homes to school, leaving the car behind. So why make the change from sitting in the car to a walk? We’ve come up with five good reasons below!

Cut congestion around the school: With so many less cars around the school, you won’t be sitting in a queue for a parking space or behind a lot of other cars. There’s nothing worse than cars with engines running, stuck around the school polluting the air – so the less cars you see the better! Less cars will also make it much easier for others to cross the road and get to school safetly.

Get fit!: Walking is great for you, keeping you fit and feeling great. It helps you become stronger and healthier, as it’s a good form of exercise for parents and children. No matter how long the walk to your school is, you’ll be improving your health and fitness.

Learn the area: If you always take the car to school, with walking there you can learn much more about the area where you live. Which direction do you travel in? What are the road names, and any geographical features along the route that you might see? Conversations about the area can also aid in learning and encouragement of the local community.

Make friends: Walk to school week is often done in groups. Parents and kids can make new friends as they walk, talking about anything on the way! Without the worry of driving or becoming stuck in queues, conversations can run wild. If your best friends already live close by, it’s even better!

Save money: If it only takes 20 minutes to walk to school along local streets then there really is no reason why you can’t walk! The money spent on petrol for the car can be saved and used to buy rewards for the walks, or even new walking shoes! An average cost saving is calculated below…

Say the average cost of petrol is £1.20 per litre. An average family car travels 10 km for every litre of fuel. Now, depending on how far it is to school, , Assume the school is 2km (1.2 miles) away from the house, which can be reached in half an hour (the average walking speed of parents and children is 4 km a hour). This means that each journey to and from school uses around 0.4 litres of petrol, although it may be  more if stuck in a jam! Therefore, in that situation you would save 50p in petrol for each time you travel.  Of course, the cost varies between diesel and petrol cars, and  the distance to school is always different – but the savings will definitely make a difference.

If you’re a parent walking your children to school, consider taking them by foot on Walk to school week and beyond. For more information, please visit the official Walk to school! website. Always be safe: Remember roads can be dangerous and cars can appear where you least expect. Always take care when walking and take extra care when crossing any road, following the  green cross code.

Household waste in the UK is becoming an increasing problem, with people throwing out over 1072 kilograms  (1.07 tonnes) of waste per household every year, of which 403kg was recycled.  Per person, 473kg of household rubbish was thrown out and 173kg recycled. An average small family car weighs around 1 tonne, so the amount of rubbish people throw away a year per house is approximately the same weight as a car! In total, more than 27 million tonnes of waste is thrown into landfills across the UK each year. In Germany, which has a population that is 25% larger than the UK just 10 million tonnes are thrown away each year.

According to a new report by BBC news, landfill space in the UK is 109 square miles which is the size of Warwick and is constantly increasing. While other options are available such as incineration this itself can produce dangerous gases. Here are some tips for reducing your household waste:

Buying food with reduced packaging

On many foods purchased throughout the UK, there is often far more packaging than is required. For example, some fruits are also unnecessarily packaged in polystyrene trays with shrink wrap covering and some cakes are wrapped several times in layers of plastic material.  If you are a customer, look for products with less packaging to reduce your own waste, and even encourage stores and brands to reduce theirs.

Recycling all you can

The amount of waste sent for recycling is growing, and as people are made more aware of which products are recycled this will continue to happen. Go a step further by checking with your local council to see what products can be recycled from your house. Plastic bottles, cans and paper are commonly recycled but now many councils are also recycling items such as batteries, old clothes and unwanted containers.  The types of items that can be recycled varies per council across the UK so encourage your council to increase their recycling.

Composting your own waste

It is easy to compost much of your own organic waste at home which could substantially reduce the amount of rubbish sent to landfill. Many people already have a full sized composter, which is mainly used for garden cuttings, weeds or cut grass. But  home and food organic waste – such as almost any cut flowers, food scraps, tea bags and more can be put into a smaller composter.  A kitchen composter is an indoor composter that can biodegrade waste inside the home without smell or mess, and the biodegraded waste can then be placed outside either in an existing compost bin or buried to add nutrients to the garden.

Combined efforts of the government, businesses and individuals need to be used to combat the ever growing problem of rubbish generation in the UK.  Using the tips above, residents throughout the UK can make a real difference to the problem.

On 8:30pm, Satuday 27th March, the WWF are encouraging everyone to switch their lights off for 1 hour to help recognise the increasing problem of climate change.  It is widely recognised that climate change is causing the ice caps to melt and seas to warm, threatening ecosystems and coastal areas worldwide. This is also having knock-on effects in other places as rising temperatures are causing increased droughts , threatiening the most vulnerable animals and people worldwide.

For just 1 hour , 8:30pm, Saturday 27th march, many landmarks and cities throughout the world are showing their support for Earth Hour and recognising the danger of climate change by switching the lights off during this time. Show yours too – sign up for earth hour or find out more information today.