Our guest blogger is Yanina Koszalinski who is the scrapstore co-ordinator for Sheffield Out of School Network

 In February, we opened our new Scrapstore at Edmund Road Business Centre. The scrapstore collects suitable waste materials donated by local businesses and manufacturers which then makes it available to individuals, groups and organisations that work with children and young people, diverting waste that would have gone to landfill or incineration to be reused for children’s play and creative activities

On Wednesday 4^th June 2014 we joined scrapstores around the country to “open our doors” as part of Greek Week to raise awareness of who and what scrapstores are all about.  Throughout the day over 90 visitors from community groups, schools and businesses that have donated materials, came along to meet our staff and volunteers and see the wide variety of materials we have in the scrapstore and how they are used for children’s play and creative activities.  There was also an opportunity to take a look behind the scenes in our warehouse, where we store larger items and resources used in Scrapstore PlayPods™ based inschools across South Yorkshire and further afield.

Our Guest Blogger Jenni Wraysbury is a former Travel Writer, who now freelances and has a huge interest in environmental issues.

Organise Your Own Creative Reusing Event!

As well as running scrapstores, members of Reuseful UK (formerly known as ScrapstoresUK) also get involved in organising all kinds of community events. The aim is to get more people of all ages discovering the fun of being creative – and turning 'rubbish' into something worth keeping. One recent event was Oxford's first 'swap'n'fix' event, where scrapstore charity Orinoco had a stall and showed how to turn an old video cassette into a new yo-yo!

If you have a passion for arts and crafts, it is a lot of fun to arrange an artistic happening and enthuse others. It could be something as small-scale as a coffee morning at your home for a few friends to try out new craft ideas. Alternatively, you may want to stage a full-scale fair or fete with artists and teachers demonstrating a whole range of artistic activities, from spinning recycled yarn to building giant junk models and collages.

There are many different possibilities to choose from, and you might want to tie your event in with Voluntary Arts Week, which will be held from May 9 to 18 in 2014. This year's VAW will include a national Craftbomb drive, with the idea being to decorate open areas of your local town or village with colourful temporary creations to inspire and excite the community. Of course, it is essential to get permission from the relevant authorities before going ahead with this.

Our Guest Blogger, Karen Cannard joined ReusefulUK as a trustee in November.  She is the creator of The Rubbish Diet, which is described as the UK’s first slimming club for bins and in January was listed in the Top 10 of the most influential people in the Resource sector.   Here she invites Scrapstore organisers and customers to join in the fun.

The Rubbish Diet began when, as a housewife on a mission to reduce my waste, I signed up to our local council’s ZeroWaste Week challenge.  I used the blog as an independent diary to record my creative attempts at improving my recycling, reducing my food waste and reusing what was left.  When Zero Waste Week came, all we threw away was a plaster after a couple of sweet wrappers had been repurposed for some toddler junk art.

The Rubbish Diet provides a real focus for anyone who’s curious about reducing their waste.  Last year the blog was developed into a website, where anyone can now sign up for the 4 week diet plan.  Over 1000 people have slimmed their bins with us so far.  After working out the top 5 things that fill your rubbish bin, you have four weeks to try and eliminate them.  Weekly emails help you improve your knowledge of local recycling, save money by reducing food waste and show off your reuse ideas before attempting the ultimate challenge of a zero waste week.

Most people who take The Rubbish Diet reduce their waste by around 50%. It’s a great personal challenge as well as an opportunity to promote your scrapstore to the community and media as part of the reuse message.  To take part, sign up at www.therubbishdiet.org.uk and if you’d like any info about encouraging your community to join and support you, do get in touch with The Rubbish Diet team via the website.