A couple are so good at recycling they only recently put their bin out for the first time in 14 months.
Richard and Louise Arnold have got themselves into such a good routine their wheelie bin only gets to the side of the street once a year.
Louise says despite having a young baby in the family, it’s small changes that led to them producing very little waste. She told WalesOnline: “It isn’t as hard as you think if you start with small steps.
“We started with soap which was our first change. We changed from shower gels and other chemical solutions to natural soap with no packaging.
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“I think people are concerned that soap doesn’t last very long but these bars are big enough that we cut them in half and have one for the sink and the other half for the shower.
“They only become a problem when they’re left in a puddle. It’s cost-effective and great for the environment.
“Then we thought: ‘This is quite good. Let’s try and do one thing a month and see how we go,’ so the following month we switched to a reusable bottle rather than using plastic bottles of water.
“People think plastic bottles get recycled but mainly they just get down cycled into something else like carpets or fleeces and stay on the planet. Then we switched to using a reusable coffee cup which I’ve now had for five or six years.
“So, it’s really easy – it isn’t all or nothing. Don’t just immediately think you have to chuck everything out of the house that is plastic and start again because it’s not going to work.
“Just go around your house and think of little things you can do at a time and slowly you will begin to notice the difference.”
Plastic containers to store food have been swapped for beeswax wraps. Fabric bags are used for shopping trips and baby Bodhi’s nappies are reusable.
Louise says the family take recyclable waste to the tip, clothes to charity shops, soft plastics back to the supermarket or Co-op and batteries to a shop that accepts them.
In 2017, the couple set up No Waste Living (NWL), which initially started as a stall at the local market at weekends and has now turned into a website. Louise writes a regular newsletter to her hundreds of subscribers.
They then began to sell eco products from non-chemical household cleaning and washing solutions for a “less toxic home” to bamboo washing up brushes.
“I started No Waste Living because I wanted to impart what we’d done and to lead by example,” Louise said. “It’s us, it’s genuine, and we put ourselves completely into it. I use every product we sell. I hope that comes through in the newsletters.”
The family are often a target of trolls but Louise said that won’t deter her. “The main point people seem to get annoyed about comes back to them thinking their waste is someone else’s issue.
“I think to myself: ‘What are they actually angry about?’ I think people are angry over new waste rules because the solution is that they have to drive their waste to a recycling centre. Generally people seem to get upset because it’s more work for them, which I understand, but your waste management is a decision you make.
"I’m trying to show people that making small steps can make a huge difference. You can reduce your waste too by making small changes. We understand people's lives are busy and don't want to add to that. In the long run though you will create more space in your home, save money, and spend less time doing the bins."
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