Last week Paper Round and Carbon Smart ran our first morning seminar at All Bar One, London Bridge for our clients. The topic was Environmental best practice swap a lot! and it was held in a unique new format which made for a highly interactive session.

Once the guests were primed with a little Continental breakfast they broke into small groups facilitated by members of our team. They all came up with some great ideas and examples of how to improve environmental performance and reduce costs in the areas of: transport, heating & lighting, waste, and IT systems, which were shared and discussed. Our experts chaired the discussion giving useful advice and answering client’s questions. Notes were then busily scrawled to catalogue the moments of inspiration which came thick and fast. These notes will be written up and circulated back to the attendees so they receive a tangible benefit from coming to the event, aside from the free food.

Our clients found the seminar very helpful and inspiring:

‘I enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and the friendly facilitators. The table discussions seemed to work very well and ideas flowed with ease.’

‘Although we have a well established environmental policy and are ISO14001 certified it is always useful to learn from other businesses. Certainly we will look at some of the options and see if we can apply them to our business.‘

If this sounds like something you would be interested in check out our future seminars here and come along.

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Last Thursday Paper Round reps Magda, Claire, Caroline and Anna went to volunteer with London Zoo’s horticultural team. Their help was needed to rake debris from the lawns before the spring lawn maintenance in order to aerate the soil for nice green grass growth in time for the summer. The horticulturalists are part of the animal team and provide valuable support for the animal environments, enrichment and feeding. All of the raked leaves were kept and used as enrichment for the bearded pigs. Keeping as much of the plant material as possible within the zoo’s systems is an important part of their environmental approach.

After work was done they had the chance for a quick stroll and saw a tiger, flamingoes, penguins, camels, lamas and donkeys.

Volunteer Anna said: “We had such a great day, our guide Lynda was great and we got to see the Zoo before the public were allowed in. It was hard work raking the lawn and we were all aching the next day but it was so rewarding to see the bearded pigs rolling around in the leaves we had collected and it was very exciting to get to feed them too. We would like to thank the Zoo for organising the day because it was so great to work out in the sun alongside the flamingos and penguins.”

The Bearded pigs also love to be fed hazelnuts which the girls got to do!

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Just imagine keeping every single plastic bottle you have used in your entire life – how many would that be and how much storage space would that fill? The result of collecting all objects of the lifetime of one person can be marveled at at the Barbican Art Centre now until the 12th of June.
Following the Chinese saying “wu jin qi yong” which describes the activity of saving and re-using things, this exhibition displays the unnecessary objects collected over five decades by Zhao Xiangyuan. Wretched experiences during the war and the fear of shortage led to a lifestyle in which nothing was thrown away.
It is impressive how much one can accumulate throughout their life if they do not dispose of the unneeded objects. The collection consists of the complete contents of a home, ranging from bottles and pots to blankets, egg containers, books, shoes, and Styrofoam…….
If you have goods you don’t need but feel they are worthwhile resources – give us a shout and we’ll make sure materials are used again in the best and most effective way.

Give us a call on 02074079100

www.eatmedaily.com

www.eatmedaily.com

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Valentine’s Day is just around the corner – stores are filled with flowers, chocolates and candy meant to show our significant other our love. In case you are bored by these usual goodies and are looking for something different this year – we have a brilliant suggestion for you. It is a way to show your compassion by helping people in need in addition to showing your loved ones that you care about them. Our charity partner FareShare has organised a unique banqueting experience called “Valentines for Everyone”.

Collaborating with eco-chef Tom Hunt they will be serving up a menu of delicious but unwanted foods in their Bermondsey warehouse including everything from heart to honey, pheasant to parsnips and a full vegetarian menu too. Diners will sit down to eat amongst stacks of surplus food, industrial fridges and lavishly themed décor… we think it’s going to be great! Everyone will sit together for the feast, so come with friends or with your loved one and sit with other diners to celebrate an alternative, atmospheric Valentine’s Day.

Every ticket sold will help FareShare provide 80 meals for hungry, vulnerable people, thanks to StreetSmart who are generously matching profits, so you can eat well and do good!

Tickets are £40 (plus booking fee) and are available for the following sittings: dinner on Friday 10thFebruary, dinner on Saturday 11th February, late lunch on Sunday 12th February and dinner on Valentine’s Day itself. Ticket price includes: a drink, canapés and 3 delicious courses.

Tickets are now on sale here: http://valentinesforeveryone.eventbrite.co.uk

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As a Corporate Member of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), Paper Round proudly supports their conservation work, helping them protect animals and habitats around the world. As we receive regular updates, we wanted to share some exciting news.
Keepers are nurturing their very own “Flame” who was born on the day the Olympic torch route was announced. The miniature 4in Francois Langur monkey was rejected by mum Lee Lee after his birth at ZSL London Zoo, and is now being looked after by surrogate mum, zookeeper Kate Sanders.
Zookeepers couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw his bright orange head and black body – making him look just like the Olympic torch. Kate is nurturing the baby Langur with the help of a monkey teddy which the youngster clings onto. The teddy acts as a substitute monkey Mum and will make it easier for keepers to reintroduce Flame to his real family. Flame is very precious as the world’s population of Francois Langurs (Trachypithecus Francoisi) has halved in the last 40 years due to habitat loss and hunting, making them extremely endangered.
There is more fiery activity to come at ZSL London Zoo. On 24th February ZSL will hold their first ever fundraising Fire Walk! Brave firewalkers will begin the evening by attending a ‘Nothing is impossible’ seminar, learning to face their fears and learn to turn their fear into unstoppable power. Following the seminar, the Fire Master will then lead everyone out into the zoo grounds where friends and family will be able to witness them take on the path of fire! For further information click here: www.zsl.org/firewalk

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Christmas is getting closer and closer – time for another Paper Round Christmas tradition.

Our office Christmas tree arrived today and is ready to be decorated. As we are such big fans of creativity, competition and recycling our decorations are handmade by Paper Round staff; made from – what other than rubbish! We compete in creating the most beautiful recycled decorations and the winner receives a prize as well as compliments from their jealous colleagues.

Look how pretty our recycled ornaments are:

Do you feel inspired? Send us pictures of your self-made ornaments.

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Offices can benefit from food recycling in many ways. In contrary to the common belief recycling your food is easy and unobtrusive. And it saves you money too! The hardest part as with any new initiatives is changing the old habits. Here are few tips to get your food recycling scheme going.

Reduce your kitchen waste with reusable cutlery. It might be the best long-term investment your office will ever make. On average the cost of single use cutlery will outweigh the costs of the reusable in just 6 month of daily usage. Another problem with the single use cutlery is that most of it cannot be recycled and goes straight to landfill. It takes a lot of space in your waste bins adding to your waste disposal costs.

Want not, waste not. When buying food for your next office party or your lunch try to be realistic about how much of it will actually be eaten. If you are organising a big staff party try to find out exact number of attendees and if possible their food preferences. Use this perfect portion guide to calculate exactly how much food you need and save money on the way. Try to reuse as much as possible of the leftover food and drinks by giving it away with doggy bags. Remember with everything else recycle as much of your waste as possible. Click here to see what can be recycled.

Keep an eye on the “best before” dates. Planning meals, keeping the cupboard and fridge stocked with basics and keeping an eye on the ‘best before’ and ‘use by’ dates can take some of the hassle out of shopping. It saves us time and money and helps cut down on food waste. Click here to get the top tips on how to make the most of the food you buy.

Buy local, buy seasonal. Buying food that is in season is better for everyone, your health, the environment and your wallet. Bringing seasonal and local food to your plate requires less natural resources and energy, which makes it cheaper. It is usually fresher, more nutritious and hence better for you than foods transported from other parts of the world and grown out of season.

There is no better food than home-cooked. If you don’t have in-house catering arrangements encourage your colleagues and employees to bring in their own home-cooked food which would dramatically reduce amount of food packaging in your waste bins. Consider setting up a lunch club. What could be better for strengthening the team spirit than enjoying together a home-cooked meal and swapping the recipes?

Nominate a recycling champion or green team. Putting someone in charge of recycling can really help improve your recycling rates. They don’t need to be experts in recycling, just keen and motivated to make a difference. We hold free training seminars to help your environmental champions – click here for future events.

Food Recycling Bins. Make sure you use special food recycling caddies of an appropriate size and biodegradable sacks for lining them up. Paper Round can help you choose the right size and number of caddies depending on the size of your office. Click here to find out what you will need to support your food recycling scheme.

Location, location. Recycling bins need to be conveniently placed so that recycling is as easy as throwing it in the waste bin. We recommend having a small table top caddy at the point where food is prepared and the bigger bin where food waste can be stored between collections. When the small caddy fills up simply tie the biodegradable sack lining the caddy and then put into your bigger bin. We collect food waste once a week and exchange your bigger bin for a new sterilised one.

Posters. It is essential that your bins are clearly signed for your scheme to run properly so that staff know what they can and cannot put into them. Paper Round has a range of posters; please click here to request some. With our food recycling services we recycle all types of food waste including teabags, coffee grounds, raw or uncooked meat or fish, bones and bio-degradable packaging.

Publicise results. Telling everyone in the office how well they are recycling will make them feel good and encourage them to recycle more. Paper Round provides annual certificates with these details for you to use in your staff room, intranet or newsletters. Detailed management reports are available in our Members Area – please click here to log in now or call 0207407 9100.

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food waste recycling

On Friday we had rubbish for lunch. That may sound weird but it’s true as the food in our
lunch – though being perfectly edible – was labelled as rubbish. Wonky carrots,
misshapen potatoes and other fresh surplus produce go to waste just because
they are cosmetically imperfect.

That these fruits and vegetables can still be
used to prepare a delicious and healthy meal was proven today at “Feeding the
5000” an event organised by Tristram Stuart supported by charities such as our partners Fareshare and Friends of the Earth.

A free lunch was provided for 5000 people made entirely out of fresh ingredients that would have otherwise gone to waste.

It was shocking to see the amount of good quality food that would
have gone to waste knowing that for some families it’s impossible to buy food
on a regular basis.
We enjoyed a very tasty curry (and doesnt it look yummy?) which contained  a variety of healty ingredients such as
carrots, cauliflower, kale, fennel and potatoes.

The event urged the public to sign the Feeding the 5000 pledge calling for action
from government, retailers and food businesses: ‘I pledge to reduce my food
waste and I want businesses to do the same’.  We signed the pledge and if you are
against wasting food as well go to www.feeding5k.org.
and sign the pledge online.

It is true there will always be some food that can’t be eaten and has to go to
waste. It is important that this waste doesn’t go to landfill to produce
methane, a gas 20 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. Any food waste
should get composted instead to avoid destructive gases.

We can help you to set up a food recycling scheme regardless what size your businesses
is – whether you have just one tea-point or a fully catered canteen or restaurant. We ensure 100% of material collected
is diverted from landfill and converted into high quality compost (PAS 100
standard). The final compost product is distributed to farms in Kent, where it
fertilises the soil to help grow more food. Find out more about how food waste
is recycled and watch this video on our website.

If you wish to start recycling food waste with us just give us a call on 020 7407
9100.

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