Excellent Resource For Reducing "Waste", 02 Nov 2008
This is a great book for informing readers on how to reduce, reuse and recycle what most of us consider "waste". It has a concise and informative introduction to the topic and then provides an alphabetical listing of many common "waste" items and how best to be reduce, reuse or recycle them.

The book also points out quite a number of UK-specific organisations who offer recycling services which I found particularly useful. I have already found myself recycling or reusing products which I would have previous thrown in the rubbish bin.

Essential, 20 Oct 2007
This is the second edition of this nice little book is essential to those who want to minimise the impact of their consuming in the eviroment.

Hardly anything different from the first edition , colour drawings instead of black and white and a more attractive cover , if you have the first edition do not bother to buy this one as is essentialy the same book.

Very easy to read and printed ( guess ) in recycled paper with very useful guide is very informative about ways of reducing the amount of things that we send to the rubbish bin every week.

The book features an A to Z guide of all the items that can recycle from cars to jars and many different ways of reducing what can not be recycled.

Even if you live in a flat in the city and you ahve no access to a compost bin this book will illustrate how to stop generating rubbish.I found the chapter on office recycling particularly helpful.

Independently of your beliefs on global warming and politics ,there is argument that cosuming less natural resources is in everyone's interest.

5 stars

A pocket sized book packed with superb information , 27 Sep 2007
A pocket sized book packed with superb information on getting the most from what we use, where we buy it from and what we do with it. Another superb Green Books Guide.

The sheer volume of waste produced in the UK is staggering, every hour we produce enough rubbish to fill the Albert Hall, everyday Trafalgar Square could be filled to old Nelson's nostrils.

It wasn't always thus, in the 1950's our waste bins looked very different. The majority of homes were heated with coal so ash and clinker made up the majority of our waste until the Clean Air Act changed our home heating. There was very little plastic, as blister packs and processed food were a rarity. Food was predominantly bought loose and wrapped in paper, which was then used to light the fire. Most bottles were returnable with the small deposit ensuring that enterprising kids kept the streets and bins free of them in the search for pocket money, the milk man took the empties away. The rag and bone cart patrolled the streets picking up rags, old furniture and bones for bone china and bonemeal.

The advent of the supermarket, convenience food and fast living has fundamentally changed the way we consume, what we consume and how it is packaged. Plastic wrapped vegetables, packaged processed food, milk in cartons, drinks in plastic bottles and can. Every thing is packaged and presented in an eye catching way to encourage purchasing on crowded shelves. On average supermarket shoppers spend £470 a year on packaging, a sixth of their annual food spend.

Nicky Scott's Reduce Reuse Recycle is one of the most comprehensive guides available on how to both avoid packaged goods and what to do with what remains. Every possible purchase is listed from Aerosols to Yoghurt pots with ideas on how to reduce, reuse and recycle where appropriate. The Guide is full of useful hints and ideas as well as links to resources and organisations that can help reduce the waste your produce and maximise the utility of what you buy.

The three Rs of a greener home economic is not about sacrifice, nor for that matter expense, it is about concentrating on what we really need, so much of which is not actually materials but real engagement with what we do. It is about cutting down spending on what we don't use, like packing, getting maximum value both for ourselves the next user so that what we do buy is the best quality we can afford. This is book is a great little pocket guide to how we can get the most from what we do have to buy and make everything have a longer more productive life.

Nickly Scott is the author of `Composting For All' and `Composting: an easy household guide', both published by Green Books. He is on the management team of the National Community Composting Network.

Every home should have a guide like this, a superb effort once again Nicky.



Essential, 17 Aug 2007
This nice little book is essential to those who want to minimize the impact of their consuming in the environment.

Very easy to read and printed ( guess ) in recycled paper with very useful guide is very informative about ways of reducing the amount of things that we send to the rubbish bin every week.

The book features an A to Z guide of all the items that can recycle from cars to jars and many different ways of reducing what can not be recycled.

Even if you live in a flat in the city and you have no access to a compost bin this book will illustrate how to stop generating rubbish.I found the chapter about " Office " particularly helpful.

Independently of your beliefs on global warming and politics ,there is argument that consuming less natural resources is in everyone's interest.

I can not wait for the next edition due out this year.

5 stars

Great little book, 28 Jun 2007
There are so many things that you would put in your bin that you can divert away from the land fill. This book is a real eye opener in what can be done with items you think you can't use anymore. It's not about how you can recycle products away from your home but also how they may get a second life in your house or garden. For me. the section on reusing cooking oil alone probably paid for this book.

Excellent Resource For Reducing "Waste", 02 Nov 2008
This is a great book for informing readers on how to reduce, reuse and recycle what most of us consider "waste". It has a concise and informative introduction to the topic and then provides an alphabetical listing of many common "waste" items and how best to be reduce, reuse or recycle them.

The book also points out quite a number of UK-specific organisations who offer recycling services which I found particularly useful. I have already found myself recycling or reusing products which I would have previous thrown in the rubbish bin.

Essential, 20 Oct 2007
This is the second edition of this nice little book is essential to those who want to minimise the impact of their consuming in the eviroment.

Hardly anything different from the first edition , colour drawings instead of black and white and a more attractive cover , if you have the first edition do not bother to buy this one as is essentialy the same book.

Very easy to read and printed ( guess ) in recycled paper with very useful guide is very informative about ways of reducing the amount of things that we send to the rubbish bin every week.

The book features an A to Z guide of all the items that can recycle from cars to jars and many different ways of reducing what can not be recycled.

Even if you live in a flat in the city and you ahve no access to a compost bin this book will illustrate how to stop generating rubbish.I found the chapter on office recycling particularly helpful.

Independently of your beliefs on global warming and politics ,there is argument that cosuming less natural resources is in everyone's interest.

5 stars

A pocket sized book packed with superb information , 27 Sep 2007
A pocket sized book packed with superb information on getting the most from what we use, where we buy it from and what we do with it. Another superb Green Books Guide.

The sheer volume of waste produced in the UK is staggering, every hour we produce enough rubbish to fill the Albert Hall, everyday Trafalgar Square could be filled to old Nelson's nostrils.

It wasn't always thus, in the 1950's our waste bins looked very different. The majority of homes were heated with coal so ash and clinker made up the majority of our waste until the Clean Air Act changed our home heating. There was very little plastic, as blister packs and processed food were a rarity. Food was predominantly bought loose and wrapped in paper, which was then used to light the fire. Most bottles were returnable with the small deposit ensuring that enterprising kids kept the streets and bins free of them in the search for pocket money, the milk man took the empties away. The rag and bone cart patrolled the streets picking up rags, old furniture and bones for bone china and bonemeal.

The advent of the supermarket, convenience food and fast living has fundamentally changed the way we consume, what we consume and how it is packaged. Plastic wrapped vegetables, packaged processed food, milk in cartons, drinks in plastic bottles and can. Every thing is packaged and presented in an eye catching way to encourage purchasing on crowded shelves. On average supermarket shoppers spend £470 a year on packaging, a sixth of their annual food spend.

Nicky Scott's Reduce Reuse Recycle is one of the most comprehensive guides available on how to both avoid packaged goods and what to do with what remains. Every possible purchase is listed from Aerosols to Yoghurt pots with ideas on how to reduce, reuse and recycle where appropriate. The Guide is full of useful hints and ideas as well as links to resources and organisations that can help reduce the waste your produce and maximise the utility of what you buy.

The three Rs of a greener home economic is not about sacrifice, nor for that matter expense, it is about concentrating on what we really need, so much of which is not actually materials but real engagement with what we do. It is about cutting down spending on what we don't use, like packing, getting maximum value both for ourselves the next user so that what we do buy is the best quality we can afford. This is book is a great little pocket guide to how we can get the most from what we do have to buy and make everything have a longer more productive life.

Nickly Scott is the author of `Composting For All' and `Composting: an easy household guide', both published by Green Books. He is on the management team of the National Community Composting Network.

Every home should have a guide like this, a superb effort once again Nicky.



Essential, 17 Aug 2007
This nice little book is essential to those who want to minimize the impact of their consuming in the environment.

Very easy to read and printed ( guess ) in recycled paper with very useful guide is very informative about ways of reducing the amount of things that we send to the rubbish bin every week.

The book features an A to Z guide of all the items that can recycle from cars to jars and many different ways of reducing what can not be recycled.

Even if you live in a flat in the city and you have no access to a compost bin this book will illustrate how to stop generating rubbish.I found the chapter about " Office " particularly helpful.

Independently of your beliefs on global warming and politics ,there is argument that consuming less natural resources is in everyone's interest.

I can not wait for the next edition due out this year.

5 stars

Great little book, 28 Jun 2007
There are so many things that you would put in your bin that you can divert away from the land fill. This book is a real eye opener in what can be done with items you think you can't use anymore. It's not about how you can recycle products away from your home but also how they may get a second life in your house or garden. For me. the section on reusing cooking oil alone probably paid for this book.

Excellent reading for the smallest room, 14 Sep 2001
The author of this one, Sim Van der Ryn has been designing alternative toilet and sewage systems for 40 years, and is currently Emeritus Professor of Architecture at Berkeley in California.

The book, originally published in 1978 way ahead of its time, now revised and reprinted, has a wider scope than The Humanure Handbook, and covers the ground more succinctly. The starting point is a history of sanitary systems and a travelogue of how they do it in other cultures, followed by details of manufactured and home made wet or dry systems which will reduce water consumption and/or enable recycling of nutrients. Greywater systems are covered in a later section, and there is an excellent chapter with details on how we could revamp our tired (or non-existent in the Third World) urban sewage systems. Excellent reading for the smallest room.

Excellent Resource For Reducing "Waste", 02 Nov 2008
This is a great book for informing readers on how to reduce, reuse and recycle what most of us consider "waste". It has a concise and informative introduction to the topic and then provides an alphabetical listing of many common "waste" items and how best to be reduce, reuse or recycle them.

The book also points out quite a number of UK-specific organisations who offer recycling services which I found particularly useful. I have already found myself recycling or reusing products which I would have previous thrown in the rubbish bin.

Essential, 20 Oct 2007
This is the second edition of this nice little book is essential to those who want to minimise the impact of their consuming in the eviroment.

Hardly anything different from the first edition , colour drawings instead of black and white and a more attractive cover , if you have the first edition do not bother to buy this one as is essentialy the same book.

Very easy to read and printed ( guess ) in recycled paper with very useful guide is very informative about ways of reducing the amount of things that we send to the rubbish bin every week.

The book features an A to Z guide of all the items that can recycle from cars to jars and many different ways of reducing what can not be recycled.

Even if you live in a flat in the city and you ahve no access to a compost bin this book will illustrate how to stop generating rubbish.I found the chapter on office recycling particularly helpful.

Independently of your beliefs on global warming and politics ,there is argument that cosuming less natural resources is in everyone's interest.

5 stars

A pocket sized book packed with superb information , 27 Sep 2007
A pocket sized book packed with superb information on getting the most from what we use, where we buy it from and what we do with it. Another superb Green Books Guide.

The sheer volume of waste produced in the UK is staggering, every hour we produce enough rubbish to fill the Albert Hall, everyday Trafalgar Square could be filled to old Nelson's nostrils.

It wasn't always thus, in the 1950's our waste bins looked very different. The majority of homes were heated with coal so ash and clinker made up the majority of our waste until the Clean Air Act changed our home heating. There was very little plastic, as blister packs and processed food were a rarity. Food was predominantly bought loose and wrapped in paper, which was then used to light the fire. Most bottles were returnable with the small deposit ensuring that enterprising kids kept the streets and bins free of them in the search for pocket money, the milk man took the empties away. The rag and bone cart patrolled the streets picking up rags, old furniture and bones for bone china and bonemeal.

The advent of the supermarket, convenience food and fast living has fundamentally changed the way we consume, what we consume and how it is packaged. Plastic wrapped vegetables, packaged processed food, milk in cartons, drinks in plastic bottles and can. Every thing is packaged and presented in an eye catching way to encourage purchasing on crowded shelves. On average supermarket shoppers spend £470 a year on packaging, a sixth of their annual food spend.

Nicky Scott's Reduce Reuse Recycle is one of the most comprehensive guides available on how to both avoid packaged goods and what to do with what remains. Every possible purchase is listed from Aerosols to Yoghurt pots with ideas on how to reduce, reuse and recycle where appropriate. The Guide is full of useful hints and ideas as well as links to resources and organisations that can help reduce the waste your produce and maximise the utility of what you buy.

The three Rs of a greener home economic is not about sacrifice, nor for that matter expense, it is about concentrating on what we really need, so much of which is not actually materials but real engagement with what we do. It is about cutting down spending on what we don't use, like packing, getting maximum value both for ourselves the next user so that what we do buy is the best quality we can afford. This is book is a great little pocket guide to how we can get the most from what we do have to buy and make everything have a longer more productive life.

Nickly Scott is the author of `Composting For All' and `Composting: an easy household guide', both published by Green Books. He is on the management team of the National Community Composting Network.

Every home should have a guide like this, a superb effort once again Nicky.



Essential, 17 Aug 2007
This nice little book is essential to those who want to minimize the impact of their consuming in the environment.

Very easy to read and printed ( guess ) in recycled paper with very useful guide is very informative about ways of reducing the amount of things that we send to the rubbish bin every week.

The book features an A to Z guide of all the items that can recycle from cars to jars and many different ways of reducing what can not be recycled.

Even if you live in a flat in the city and you have no access to a compost bin this book will illustrate how to stop generating rubbish.I found the chapter about " Office " particularly helpful.

Independently of your beliefs on global warming and politics ,there is argument that consuming less natural resources is in everyone's interest.

I can not wait for the next edition due out this year.

5 stars

Great little book, 28 Jun 2007
There are so many things that you would put in your bin that you can divert away from the land fill. This book is a real eye opener in what can be done with items you think you can't use anymore. It's not about how you can recycle products away from your home but also how they may get a second life in your house or garden. For me. the section on reusing cooking oil alone probably paid for this book.

Excellent reading for the smallest room, 14 Sep 2001
The author of this one, Sim Van der Ryn has been designing alternative toilet and sewage systems for 40 years, and is currently Emeritus Professor of Architecture at Berkeley in California.

The book, originally published in 1978 way ahead of its time, now revised and reprinted, has a wider scope than The Humanure Handbook, and covers the ground more succinctly. The starting point is a history of sanitary systems and a travelogue of how they do it in other cultures, followed by details of manufactured and home made wet or dry systems which will reduce water consumption and/or enable recycling of nutrients. Greywater systems are covered in a later section, and there is an excellent chapter with details on how we could revamp our tired (or non-existent in the Third World) urban sewage systems. Excellent reading for the smallest room.

Lightweight, 25 May 2006
This book is light on anything new or useful. If you are the slightest bit aware of green or eco issues you will know more than this book will ever impart to you.

The book is colourful and easy to read which places it in the category of a child's book rather than an informed adult read.

Sorry but it is not worth the money.

Just good enough., 29 Mar 2006
This book is worth having on the shelf if you want a very simple intro. to living greener but is outdone by other books in the field that are even more competetive with regards pricing and don't waste as much paper and energy ( I would guess ) in their production. Nothing in it that I would call new but the style in which it is written is appealing and I found it a pleasant read with no distractions.

If you care enough to buy it, you probably know most of it, 01 Oct 2005
I strongly support all of the intentions of this book, so it feels a bit unkind to be rude about it, but I think I will be taking the advice on the back cover of recycling it fairly quickly. There's a great deal of padding here (pointless graphics with acres of space around them). What material there is, is quite good - which makes the lack of structure to it all the more annoying. The more detailed information you might expect to find, for example about recycling plastics, is missing - there's just a reference to a website (which turns out to be aimed at business users).

It is motivating, but so superficial that I think it's rather a wasted opportunity.

Excellent Resource For Reducing "Waste", 02 Nov 2008
This is a great book for informing readers on how to reduce, reuse and recycle what most of us consider "waste". It has a concise and informative introduction to the topic and then provides an alphabetical listing of many common "waste" items and how best to be reduce, reuse or recycle them.

The book also points out quite a number of UK-specific organisations who offer recycling services which I found particularly useful. I have already found myself recycling or reusing products which I would have previous thrown in the rubbish bin.

Essential, 20 Oct 2007
This is the second edition of this nice little book is essential to those who want to minimise the impact of their consuming in the eviroment.

Hardly anything different from the first edition , colour drawings instead of black and white and a more attractive cover , if you have the first edition do not bother to buy this one as is essentialy the same book.

Very easy to read and printed ( guess ) in recycled paper with very useful guide is very informative about ways of reducing the amount of things that we send to the rubbish bin every week.

The book features an A to Z guide of all the items that can recycle from cars to jars and many different ways of reducing what can not be recycled.

Even if you live in a flat in the city and you ahve no access to a compost bin this book will illustrate how to stop generating rubbish.I found the chapter on office recycling particularly helpful.

Independently of your beliefs on global warming and politics ,there is argument that cosuming less natural resources is in everyone's interest.

5 stars

A pocket sized book packed with superb information , 27 Sep 2007
A pocket sized book packed with superb information on getting the most from what we use, where we buy it from and what we do with it. Another superb Green Books Guide.

The sheer volume of waste produced in the UK is staggering, every hour we produce enough rubbish to fill the Albert Hall, everyday Trafalgar Square could be filled to old Nelson's nostrils.

It wasn't always thus, in the 1950's our waste bins looked very different. The majority of homes were heated with coal so ash and clinker made up the majority of our waste until the Clean Air Act changed our home heating. There was very little plastic, as blister packs and processed food were a rarity. Food was predominantly bought loose and wrapped in paper, which was then used to light the fire. Most bottles were returnable with the small deposit ensuring that enterprising kids kept the streets and bins free of them in the search for pocket money, the milk man took the empties away. The rag and bone cart patrolled the streets picking up rags, old furniture and bones for bone china and bonemeal.

The advent of the supermarket, convenience food and fast living has fundamentally changed the way we consume, what we consume and how it is packaged. Plastic wrapped vegetables, packaged processed food, milk in cartons, drinks in plastic bottles and can. Every thing is packaged and presented in an eye catching way to encourage purchasing on crowded shelves. On average supermarket shoppers spend £470 a year on packaging, a sixth of their annual food spend.

Nicky Scott's Reduce Reuse Recycle is one of the most comprehensive guides available on how to both avoid packaged goods and what to do with what remains. Every possible purchase is listed from Aerosols to Yoghurt pots with ideas on how to reduce, reuse and recycle where appropriate. The Guide is full of useful hints and ideas as well as links to resources and organisations that can help reduce the waste your produce and maximise the utility of what you buy.

The three Rs of a greener home economic is not about sacrifice, nor for that matter expense, it is about concentrating on what we really need, so much of which is not actually materials but real engagement with what we do. It is about cutting down spending on what we don't use, like packing, getting maximum value both for ourselves the next user so that what we do buy is the best quality we can afford. This is book is a great little pocket guide to how we can get the most from what we do have to buy and make everything have a longer more productive life.

Nickly Scott is the author of `Composting For All' and `Composting: an easy household guide', both published by Green Books. He is on the management team of the National Community Composting Network.

Every home should have a guide like this, a superb effort once again Nicky.



Essential, 17 Aug 2007
This nice little book is essential to those who want to minimize the impact of their consuming in the environment.

Very easy to read and printed ( guess ) in recycled paper with very useful guide is very informative about ways of reducing the amount of things that we send to the rubbish bin every week.

The book features an A to Z guide of all the items that can recycle from cars to jars and many different ways of reducing what can not be recycled.

Even if you live in a flat in the city and you have no access to a compost bin this book will illustrate how to stop generating rubbish.I found the chapter about " Office " particularly helpful.

Independently of your beliefs on global warming and politics ,there is argument that consuming less natural resources is in everyone's interest.

I can not wait for the next edition due out this year.

5 stars

Great little book, 28 Jun 2007
There are so many things that you would put in your bin that you can divert away from the land fill. This book is a real eye opener in what can be done with items you think you can't use anymore. It's not about how you can recycle products away from your home but also how they may get a second life in your house or garden. For me. the section on reusing cooking oil alone probably paid for this book.

Excellent reading for the smallest room, 14 Sep 2001
The author of this one, Sim Van der Ryn has been designing alternative toilet and sewage systems for 40 years, and is currently Emeritus Professor of Architecture at Berkeley in California.

The book, originally published in 1978 way ahead of its time, now revised and reprinted, has a wider scope than The Humanure Handbook, and covers the ground more succinctly. The starting point is a history of sanitary systems and a travelogue of how they do it in other cultures, followed by details of manufactured and home made wet or dry systems which will reduce water consumption and/or enable recycling of nutrients. Greywater systems are covered in a later section, and there is an excellent chapter with details on how we could revamp our tired (or non-existent in the Third World) urban sewage systems. Excellent reading for the smallest room.

Lightweight, 25 May 2006
This book is light on anything new or useful. If you are the slightest bit aware of green or eco issues you will know more than this book will ever impart to you.

The book is colourful and easy to read which places it in the category of a child's book rather than an informed adult read.

Sorry but it is not worth the money.

Just good enough., 29 Mar 2006
This book is worth having on the shelf if you want a very simple intro. to living greener but is outdone by other books in the field that are even more competetive with regards pricing and don't waste as much paper and energy ( I would guess ) in their production. Nothing in it that I would call new but the style in which it is written is appealing and I found it a pleasant read with no distractions.

If you care enough to buy it, you probably know most of it, 01 Oct 2005
I strongly support all of the intentions of this book, so it feels a bit unkind to be rude about it, but I think I will be taking the advice on the back cover of recycling it fairly quickly. There's a great deal of padding here (pointless graphics with acres of space around them). What material there is, is quite good - which makes the lack of structure to it all the more annoying. The more detailed information you might expect to find, for example about recycling plastics, is missing - there's just a reference to a website (which turns out to be aimed at business users).

It is motivating, but so superficial that I think it's rather a wasted opportunity.

affordable !, 12 Oct 2006
Nicky Scott, Chairperson for the Community Composting Network in the UK, is the author of three small books (roughly 4 x 6 inches) dealing with waste reduction and has appeared in two videos about composting. His book, Composting - An Easy Household Guide, was originally published in 2005 and the second edition was released in 2006. The cover and all ninety-six pages are printed on 100% recycled paper.

This book is slightly more advanced than his smaller booklet, Composting For All. Both books discuss why compost is such an important factor in reducing stress on landfills. But here, Nicky shows how this one simple action can benefit everyone in the community and can actually affect global conditions as well. Nicky tells readers that approximately one-quarter of UK's methane gas emissions (one of the gases that contributes to global warming) are due to organic waste in landfills, which are decomposing improperly. When composts are given aerobic conditions there is very little gas production.
Nicky shows other advantages such as less odor in garbage cans and less volume for curb-side pick-up services to deal with - therefore garbage will be put out on the curb less often.

Nicky demonstrates how to get the right mix in the compost for optimal decomposition conditions. He then explains some of the different composting bins sold commercially. There is the perfect bin available for different situations from apartment dwellers to individuals, situations involving pest issues (rats, etc) and communal composting. His book covers Dalek-type bins, tumblers, digesters, green cones, green Johanna's, fermentation methods, worm bins and more.

Much of the information can be applied globally, though the stats and information in Composting- and Easy Household Guide is from the UK. Terms such as "fly tipping" have no definition in North America. The resource section is four pages long and provides information on seven organizations and lists three books and videos for readers to refer to.

~ ~ Book Reviewer: Lillian Brummet - Co-author of the book Trash Talk, a guide for anyone concerned about his or her impact on the environment - Author of Towards Understanding, a collection of poetry. (http://www.sunshinecable.com/~drumit)

Excellent Resource For Reducing "Waste", 02 Nov 2008
This is a great book for informing readers on how to reduce, reuse and recycle what most of us consider "waste". It has a concise and informative introduction to the topic and then provides an alphabetical listing of many common "waste" items and how best to be reduce, reuse or recycle them.

The book also points out quite a number of UK-specific organisations who offer recycling services which I found particularly useful. I have already found myself recycling or reusing products which I would have previous thrown in the rubbish bin.

Essential, 20 Oct 2007
This is the second edition of this nice little book is essential to those who want to minimise the impact of their consuming in the eviroment.

Hardly anything different from the first edition , colour drawings instead of black and white and a more attractive cover , if you have the first edition do not bother to buy this one as is essentialy the same book.

Very easy to read and printed ( guess ) in recycled paper with very useful guide is very informative about ways of reducing the amount of things that we send to the rubbish bin every week.

The book features an A to Z guide of all the items that can recycle from cars to jars and many different ways of reducing what can not be recycled.

Even if you live in a flat in the city and you ahve no access to a compost bin this book will illustrate how to stop generating rubbish.I found the chapter on office recycling particularly helpful.

Independently of your beliefs on global warming and politics ,there is argument that cosuming less natural resources is in everyone's interest.

5 stars

A pocket sized book packed with superb information , 27 Sep 2007
A pocket sized book packed with superb information on getting the most from what we use, where we buy it from and what we do with it. Another superb Green Books Guide.

The sheer volume of waste produced in the UK is staggering, every hour we produce enough rubbish to fill the Albert Hall, everyday Trafalgar Square could be filled to old Nelson's nostrils.

It wasn't always thus, in the 1950's our waste bins looked very different. The majority of homes were heated with coal so ash and clinker made up the majority of our waste until the Clean Air Act changed our home heating. There was very little plastic, as blister packs and processed food were a rarity. Food was predominantly bought loose and wrapped in paper, which was then used to light the fire. Most bottles were returnable with the small deposit ensuring that enterprising kids kept the streets and bins free of them in the search for pocket money, the milk man took the empties away. The rag and bone cart patrolled the streets picking up rags, old furniture and bones for bone china and bonemeal.

The advent of the supermarket, convenience food and fast living has fundamentally changed the way we consume, what we consume and how it is packaged. Plastic wrapped vegetables, packaged processed food, milk in cartons, drinks in plastic bottles and can. Every thing is packaged and presented in an eye catching way to encourage purchasing on crowded shelves. On average supermarket shoppers spend £470 a year on packaging, a sixth of their annual food spend.

Nicky Scott's Reduce Reuse Recycle is one of the most comprehensive guides available on how to both avoid packaged goods and what to do with what remains. Every possible purchase is listed from Aerosols to Yoghurt pots with ideas on how to reduce, reuse and recycle where appropriate. The Guide is full of useful hints and ideas as well as links to resources and organisations that can help reduce the waste your produce and maximise the utility of what you buy.

The three Rs of a greener home economic is not about sacrifice, nor for that matter expense, it is about concentrating on what we really need, so much of which is not actually materials but real engagement with what we do. It is about cutting down spending on what we don't use, like packing, getting maximum value both for ourselves the next user so that what we do buy is the best quality we can afford. This is book is a great little pocket guide to how we can get the most from what we do have to buy and make everything have a longer more productive life.

Nickly Scott is the author of `Composting For All' and `Composting: an easy household guide', both published by Green Books. He is on the management team of the National Community Composting Network.

Every home should have a guide like this, a superb effort once again Nicky.



Essential, 17 Aug 2007
This nice little book is essential to those who want to minimize the impact of their consuming in the environment.

Very easy to read and printed ( guess ) in recycled paper with very useful guide is very informative about ways of reducing the amount of things that we send to the rubbish bin every week.

The book features an A to Z guide of all the items that can recycle from cars to jars and many different ways of reducing what can not be recycled.

Even if you live in a flat in the city and you have no access to a compost bin this book will illustrate how to stop generating rubbish.I found the chapter about " Office " particularly helpful.

Independently of your beliefs on global warming and politics ,there is argument that consuming less natural resources is in everyone's interest.

I can not wait for the next edition due out this year.

5 stars

Great little book, 28 Jun 2007
There are so many things that you would put in your bin that you can divert away from the land fill. This book is a real eye opener in what can be done with items you think you can't use anymore. It's not about how you can recycle products away from your home but also how they may get a second life in your house or garden. For me. the section on reusing cooking oil alone probably paid for this book.

Excellent reading for the smallest room, 14 Sep 2001
The author of this one, Sim Van der Ryn has been designing alternative toilet and sewage systems for 40 years, and is currently Emeritus Professor of Architecture at Berkeley in California.

The book, originally published in 1978 way ahead of its time, now revised and reprinted, has a wider scope than The Humanure Handbook, and covers the ground more succinctly. The starting point is a history of sanitary systems and a travelogue of how they do it in other cultures, followed by details of manufactured and home made wet or dry systems which will reduce water consumption and/or enable recycling of nutrients. Greywater systems are covered in a later section, and there is an excellent chapter with details on how we could revamp our tired (or non-existent in the Third World) urban sewage systems. Excellent reading for the smallest room.

Lightweight, 25 May 2006
This book is light on anything new or useful. If you are the slightest bit aware of green or eco issues you will know more than this book will ever impart to you.

The book is colourful and easy to read which places it in the category of a child's book rather than an informed adult read.

Sorry but it is not worth the money.

Just good enough., 29 Mar 2006
This book is worth having on the shelf if you want a very simple intro. to living greener but is outdone by other books in the field that are even more competetive with regards pricing and don't waste as much paper and energy ( I would guess ) in their production. Nothing in it that I would call new but the style in which it is written is appealing and I found it a pleasant read with no distractions.

If you care enough to buy it, you probably know most of it, 01 Oct 2005
I strongly support all of the intentions of this book, so it feels a bit unkind to be rude about it, but I think I will be taking the advice on the back cover of recycling it fairly quickly. There's a great deal of padding here (pointless graphics with acres of space around them). What material there is, is quite good - which makes the lack of structure to it all the more annoying. The more detailed information you might expect to find, for example about recycling plastics, is missing - there's just a reference to a website (which turns out to be aimed at business users).

It is motivating, but so superficial that I think it's rather a wasted opportunity.

affordable !, 12 Oct 2006
Nicky Scott, Chairperson for the Community Composting Network in the UK, is the author of three small books (roughly 4 x 6 inches) dealing with waste reduction and has appeared in two videos about composting. His book, Composting - An Easy Household Guide, was originally published in 2005 and the second edition was released in 2006. The cover and all ninety-six pages are printed on 100% recycled paper.

This book is slightly more advanced than his smaller booklet, Composting For All. Both books discuss why compost is such an important factor in reducing stress on landfills. But here, Nicky shows how this one simple action can benefit everyone in the community and can actually affect global conditions as well. Nicky tells readers that approximately one-quarter of UK's methane gas emissions (one of the gases that contributes to global warming) are due to organic waste in landfills, which are decomposing improperly. When composts are given aerobic conditions there is very little gas production.
Nicky shows other advantages such as less odor in garbage cans and less volume for curb-side pick-up services to deal with - therefore garbage will be put out on the curb less often.

Nicky demonstrates how to get the right mix in the compost for optimal decomposition conditions. He then explains some of the different composting bins sold commercially. There is the perfect bin available for different situations from apartment dwellers to individuals, situations involving pest issues (rats, etc) and communal composting. His book covers Dalek-type bins, tumblers, digesters, green cones, green Johanna's, fermentation methods, worm bins and more.

Much of the information can be applied globally, though the stats and information in Composting- and Easy Household Guide is from the UK. Terms such as "fly tipping" have no definition in North America. The resource section is four pages long and provides information on seven organizations and lists three books and videos for readers to refer to.

~ ~ Book Reviewer: Lillian Brummet - Co-author of the book Trash Talk, a guide for anyone concerned about his or her impact on the environment - Author of Towards Understanding, a collection of poetry. (http://www.sunshinecable.com/~drumit)

Nuclear Decommissioning, 13 Oct 2004
The book, as is the University of Birmingham Postgraduate course on which it is based, is unique in bringing together material over the whole range of waste management, decommissioning and site remediation. It is essential reading for postgraduate students in this area, regulators, environmentalists and government agencies. It provides a basic understanding of the key principles, methodologies and current best practice. This well presented book contains 25 chapters under 5 broad headings: Fundamentals, Decommissioning, Project and program management, Waste management, and Site environmental remediation. There are numerous tables, figures and illustrations. Highly recommended. I have 2 copies for home and work!

Nuclear decommissioning.... Bayliss & Langley, 13 Oct 2004
The book, as is the University of Birmingham Postgraduate course on which it is based, is unique in bringing together material over the whole range of waste management, decommissioning and site remediation. It is essential reading for postgraduate students in this area, regulators, environmentalists and government agencies. It provides a basic understanding of the key principles, methodologies and current best practice. This well presented book contains 25 chapters under 5 broad headings: Fundamentals, Decommissioning, Project and program management, Waste management, and Site environmental remediation. There are numerous tables, figures and illustrations. Highly recommended. I have 2 copies for home and work!

Excellent Resource For Reducing "Waste", 02 Nov 2008
This is a great book for informing readers on how to reduce, reuse and recycle what most of us consider "waste". It has a concise and informative introduction to the topic and then provides an alphabetical listing of many common "waste" items and how best to be reduce, reuse or recycle them.

The book also points out quite a number of UK-specific organisations who offer recycling services which I found particularly useful. I have already found myself recycling or reusing products which I would have previous thrown in the rubbish bin.

Essential, 20 Oct 2007
This is the second edition of this nice little book is essential to those who want to minimise the impact of their consuming in the eviroment.

Hardly anything different from the first edition , colour drawings instead of black and white and a more attractive cover , if you have the first edition do not bother to buy this one as is essentialy the same book.

Very easy to read and printed ( guess ) in recycled paper with very useful guide is very informative about ways of reducing the amount of things that we send to the rubbish bin every week.

The book features an A to Z guide of all the items that can recycle from cars to jars and many different ways of reducing what can not be recycled.

Even if you live in a flat in the city and you ahve no access to a compost bin this book will illustrate how to stop generating rubbish.I found the chapter on office recycling particularly helpful.

Independently of your beliefs on global warming and politics ,there is argument that cosuming less natural resources is in everyone's interest.

5 stars

A pocket sized book packed with superb information , 27 Sep 2007
A pocket sized book packed with superb information on getting the most from what we use, where we buy it from and what we do with it. Another superb Green Books Guide.

The sheer volume of waste produced in the UK is staggering, every hour we produce enough rubbish to fill the Albert Hall, everyday Trafalgar Square could be filled to old Nelson's nostrils.

It wasn't always thus, in the 1950's our waste bins looked very different. The majority of homes were heated with coal so ash and clinker made up the majority of our waste until the Clean Air Act changed our home heating. There was very little plastic, as blister packs and processed food were a rarity. Food was predominantly bought loose and wrapped in paper, which was then used to light the fire. Most bottles were returnable with the small deposit ensuring that enterprising kids kept the streets and bins free of them in the search for pocket money, the milk man took the empties away. The rag and bone cart patrolled the streets picking up rags, old furniture and bones for bone china and bonemeal.

The advent of the supermarket, convenience food and fast living has fundamentally changed the way we consume, what we consume and how it is packaged. Plastic wrapped vegetables, packaged processed food, milk in cartons, drinks in plastic bottles and can. Every thing is packaged and presented in an eye catching way to encourage purchasing on crowded shelves. On average supermarket shoppers spend £470 a year on packaging, a sixth of their annual food spend.

Nicky Scott's Reduce Reuse Recycle is one of the most comprehensive guides available on how to both avoid packaged goods and what to do with what remains. Every possible purchase is listed from Aerosols to Yoghurt pots with ideas on how to reduce, reuse and recycle where appropriate. The Guide is full of useful hints and ideas as well as links to resources and organisations that can help reduce the waste your produce and maximise the utility of what you buy.

The three Rs of a greener home economic is not about sacrifice, nor for that matter expense, it is about concentrating on what we really need, so much of which is not actually materials but real engagement with what we do. It is about cutting down spending on what we don't use, like packing, getting maximum value both for ourselves the next user so that what we do buy is the best quality we can afford. This is book is a great little pocket guide to how we can get the most from what we do have to buy and make everything have a longer more productive life.

Nickly Scott is the author of `Composting For All' and `Composting: an easy household guide', both published by Green Books. He is on the management team of the National Community Composting Network.

Every home should have a guide like this, a superb effort once again Nicky.



Essential, 17 Aug 2007
This nice little book is essential to those who want to minimize the impact of their consuming in the environment.

Very easy to read and printed ( guess ) in recycled paper with very useful guide is very informative about ways of reducing the amount of things that we send to the rubbish bin every week.

The book features an A to Z guide of all the items that can recycle from cars to jars and many different ways of reducing what can not be recycled.

Even if you live in a flat in the city and you have no access to a compost bin this book will illustrate how to stop generating rubbish.I found the chapter about " Office " particularly helpful.

Independently of your beliefs on global warming and politics ,there is argument that consuming less natural resources is in everyone's interest.

I can not wait for the next edition due out this year.

5 stars

Great little book, 28 Jun 2007
There are so many things that you would put in your bin that you can divert away from the land fill. This book is a real eye opener in what can be done with items you think you can't use anymore. It's not about how you can recycle products away from your home but also how they may get a second life in your house or garden. For me. the section on reusing cooking oil alone probably paid for this book.

Excellent reading for the smallest room, 14 Sep 2001
The author of this one, Sim Van der Ryn has been designing alternative toilet and sewage systems for 40 years, and is currently Emeritus Professor of Architecture at Berkeley in California.

The book, originally published in 1978 way ahead of its time, now revised and reprinted, has a wider scope than The Humanure Handbook, and covers the ground more succinctly. The starting point is a history of sanitary systems and a travelogue of how they do it in other cultures, followed by details of manufactured and home made wet or dry systems which will reduce water consumption and/or enable recycling of nutrients. Greywater systems are covered in a later section, and there is an excellent chapter with details on how we could revamp our tired (or non-existent in the Third World) urban sewage systems. Excellent reading for the smallest room.

Lightweight, 25 May 2006
This book is light on anything new or useful. If you are the slightest bit aware of green or eco issues you will know more than this book will ever impart to you.

The book is colourful and easy to read which places it in the category of a child's book rather than an informed adult read.

Sorry but it is not worth the money.

Just good enough., 29 Mar 2006
This book is worth having on the shelf if you want a very simple intro. to living greener but is outdone by other books in the field that are even more competetive with regards pricing and don't waste as much paper and energy ( I would guess ) in their production. Nothing in it that I would call new but the style in which it is written is appealing and I found it a pleasant read with no distractions.

If you care enough to buy it, you probably know most of it, 01 Oct 2005
I strongly support all of the intentions of this book, so it feels a bit unkind to be rude about it, but I think I will be taking the advice on the back cover of recycling it fairly quickly. There's a great deal of padding here (pointless graphics with acres of space around them). What material there is, is quite good - which makes the lack of structure to it all the more annoying. The more detailed information you might expect to find, for example about recycling plastics, is missing - there's just a reference to a website (which turns out to be aimed at business users).

It is motivating, but so superficial that I think it's rather a wasted opportunity.

affordable !, 12 Oct 2006
Nicky Scott, Chairperson for the Community Composting Network in the UK, is the author of three small books (roughly 4 x 6 inches) dealing with waste reduction and has appeared in two videos about composting. His book, Composting - An Easy Household Guide, was originally published in 2005 and the second edition was released in 2006. The cover and all ninety-six pages are printed on 100% recycled paper.

This book is slightly more advanced than his smaller booklet, Composting For All. Both books discuss why compost is such an important factor in reducing stress on landfills. But here, Nicky shows how this one simple action can benefit everyone in the community and can actually affect global conditions as well. Nicky tells readers that approximately one-quarter of UK's methane gas emissions (one of the gases that contributes to global warming) are due to organic waste in landfills, which are decomposing improperly. When composts are given aerobic conditions there is very little gas production.
Nicky shows other advantages such as less odor in garbage cans and less volume for curb-side pick-up services to deal with - therefore garbage will be put out on the curb less often.

Nicky demonstrates how to get the right mix in the compost for optimal decomposition conditions. He then explains some of the different composting bins sold commercially. There is the perfect bin available for different situations from apartment dwellers to individuals, situations involving pest issues (rats, etc) and communal composting. His book covers Dalek-type bins, tumblers, digesters, green cones, green Johanna's, fermentation methods, worm bins and more.

Much of the information can be applied globally, though the stats and information in Composting- and Easy Household Guide is from the UK. Terms such as "fly tipping" have no definition in North America. The resource section is four pages long and provides information on seven organizations and lists three books and videos for readers to refer to.

~ ~ Book Reviewer: Lillian Brummet - Co-author of the book Trash Talk, a guide for anyone concerned about his or her impact on the environment - Author of Towards Understanding, a collection of poetry. (http://www.sunshinecable.com/~drumit)

Nuclear Decommissioning, 13 Oct 2004
The book, as is the University of Birmingham Postgraduate course on which it is based, is unique in bringing together material over the whole range of waste management, decommissioning and site remediation. It is essential reading for postgraduate students in this area, regulators, environmentalists and government agencies. It provides a basic understanding of the key principles, methodologies and current best practice. This well presented book contains 25 chapters under 5 broad headings: Fundamentals, Decommissioning, Project and program management, Waste management, and Site environmental remediation. There are numerous tables, figures and illustrations. Highly recommended. I have 2 copies for home and work!

Nuclear decommissioning.... Bayliss & Langley, 13 Oct 2004
The book, as is the University of Birmingham Postgraduate course on which it is based, is unique in bringing together material over the whole range of waste management, decommissioning and site remediation. It is essential reading for postgraduate students in this area, regulators, environmentalists and government agencies. It provides a basic understanding of the key principles, methodologies and current best practice. This well presented book contains 25 chapters under 5 broad headings: Fundamentals, Decommissioning, Project and program management, Waste management, and Site environmental remediation. There are numerous tables, figures and illustrations. Highly recommended. I have 2 copies for home and work!

The Recycle Bible!, 19 Sep 2006
In the beginning there was Recycle: the Essential Guide. Well, if only.

The subject of recycling can sometimes be perceived as dull and old fashioned. This book manages to provide all the essential elements you would need to be clued up on waste while presented in a modern and cool fashion.

An introduction by Lucy Siegle sets the tone. An overview of the history of waste and recycling is followed by a clear statement that we should learn and be inspired by the forces of nature where zero waste is a way of life.

Each recyclable material has its own section where you can find out what the item is composed of, why you should recycle it, any problems encountered, the recycling process itself and useful contacts.

A delicate balance between information and pictures is achieved here to make Recycling as interesting as possible. The text is accurate and concise and the fantastic array of pictures only serves to compliment the information that is present.

It not only provides relevant national information such as the Recycle Now campaign but also highlights projects throughout the world that are both thought provoking and inspiring.

Many books will inspire you to be more eco conscious but then will not supply you with the means of actually achieving this. Yet here, there is a directory of governmental organisations to point you in the right direction and a fantastic Sustainable design directory that shows it is possible to buy recycled goods for every day living. From recycled jewellery made out of metal and rubber to eco friendly flooring made from recycled aluminium, cork, glass and bamboo!

Essential reading??? You bet!

Excellent Resource For Reducing "Waste", 02 Nov 2008
This is a great book for informing readers on how to reduce, reuse and recycle what most of us consider "waste". It has a concise and informative introduction to the topic and then provides an alphabetical listing of many common "waste" items and how best to be reduce, reuse or recycle them.

The book also points out quite a number of UK-specific organisations who offer recycling services which I found particularly useful. I have already found myself recycling or reusing products which I would have previous thrown in the rubbish bin.

Essential, 20 Oct 2007
This is the second edition of this nice little book is essential to those who want to minimise the impact of their consuming in the eviroment.

Hardly anything different from the first edition , colour drawings instead of black and white and a more attractive cover , if you have the first edition do not bother to buy this one as is essentialy the same book.

Very easy to read and printed ( guess ) in recycled paper with very useful guide is very informative about ways of reducing the amount of things that we send to the rubbish bin every week.

The book features an A to Z guide of all the items that can recycle from cars to jars and many different ways of reducing what can not be recycled.

Even if you live in a flat in the city and you ahve no access to a compost bin this book will illustrate how to stop generating rubbish.I found the chapter on office recycling particularly helpful.

Independently of your beliefs on global warming and politics ,there is argument that cosuming less natural resources is in everyone's interest.

5 stars

A pocket sized book packed with superb information , 27 Sep 2007
A pocket sized book packed with superb information on getting the most from what we use, where we buy it from and what we do with it. Another superb Green Books Guide.

The sheer volume of waste produced in the UK is staggering, every hour we produce enough rubbish to fill the Albert Hall, everyday Trafalgar Square could be filled to old Nelson's nostrils.

It wasn't always thus, in the 1950's our waste bins looked very different. The majority of homes were heated with coal so ash and clinker made up the majority of our waste until the Clean Air Act changed our home heating. There was very little plastic, as blister packs and processed food were a rarity. Food was predominantly bought loose and wrapped in paper, which was then used to light the fire. Most bottles were returnable with the small deposit ensuring that enterprising kids kept the streets and bins free of them in the search for pocket money, the milk man took the empties away. The rag and bone cart patrolled the streets picking up rags, old furniture and bones for bone china and bonemeal.

The advent of the supermarket, convenience food and fast living has fundamentally changed the way we consume, what we consume and how it is packaged. Plastic wrapped vegetables, packaged processed food, milk in cartons, drinks in plastic bottles and can. Every thing is packaged and presented in an eye catching way to encourage purchasing on crowded shelves. On average supermarket shoppers spend £470 a year on packaging, a sixth of their annual food spend.

Nicky Scott's Reduce Reuse Recycle is one of the most comprehensive guides available on how to both avoid packaged goods and what to do with what remains. Every possible purchase is listed from Aerosols to Yoghurt pots with ideas on how to reduce, reuse and recycle where appropriate. The Guide is full of useful hints and ideas as well as links to resources and organisations that can help reduce the waste your produce and maximise the utility of what you buy.

The three Rs of a greener home economic is not about sacrifice, nor for that matter expense, it is about concentrating on what we really need, so much of which is not actually materials but real engagement with what we do. It is about cutting down spending on what we don't use, like packing, getting maximum value both for ourselves the next user so that what we do buy is the best quality we can afford. This is book is a great little pocket guide to how we can get the most from what we do have to buy and make everything have a longer more productive life.

Nickly Scott is the author of `Composting For All' and `Composting: an easy household guide', both published by Green Books. He is on the management team of the National Community Composting Network.

Every home should have a guide like this, a superb effort once again Nicky.



Essential, 17 Aug 2007
This nice little book is essential to those who want to minimize the impact of their consuming in the environment.

Very easy to read and printed ( guess ) in recycled paper with very useful guide is very informative about ways of reducing the amount of things that we send to the rubbish bin every week.

The book features an A to Z guide of all the items that can recycle from cars to jars and many different ways of reducing what can not be recycled.

Even if you live in a flat in the city and you have no access to a compost bin this book will illustrate how to stop generating rubbish.I found the chapter about " Office " particularly helpful.

Independently of your beliefs on global warming and politics ,there is argument that consuming less natural resources is in everyone's interest.

I can not wait for the next edition due out this year.

5 stars

Great little book, 28 Jun 2007
There are so many things that you would put in your bin that you can divert away from the land fill. This book is a real eye opener in what can be done with items you think you can't use anymore. It's not about how you can recycle products away from your home but also how they may get a second life in your house or garden. For me. the section on reusing cooking oil alone probably paid for this book.

Excellent reading for the smallest room, 14 Sep 2001
The author of this one, Sim Van der Ryn has been designing alternative toilet and sewage systems for 40 years, and is currently Emeritus Professor of Architecture at Berkeley in California.

The book, originally published in 1978 way ahead of its time, now revised and reprinted, has a wider scope than The Humanure Handbook, and covers the ground more succinctly. The starting point is a history of sanitary systems and a travelogue of how they do it in other cultures, followed by details of manufactured and home made wet or dry systems which will reduce water consumption and/or enable recycling of nutrients. Greywater systems are covered in a later section, and there is an excellent chapter with details on how we could revamp our tired (or non-existent in the Third World) urban sewage systems. Excellent reading for the smallest room.

Lightweight, 25 May 2006
This book is light on anything new or useful. If you are the slightest bit aware of green or eco issues you will know more than this book will ever impart to you.

The book is colourful and easy to read which places it in the category of a child's book rather than an informed adult read.

Sorry but it is not worth the money.

Just good enough., 29 Mar 2006
This book is worth having on the shelf if you want a very simple intro. to living greener but is outdone by other books in the field that are even more competetive with regards pricing and don't waste as much paper and energy ( I would guess ) in their production. Nothing in it that I would call new but the style in which it is written is appealing and I found it a pleasant read with no distractions.

If you care enough to buy it, you probably know most of it, 01 Oct 2005
I strongly support all of the intentions of this book, so it feels a bit unkind to be rude about it, but I think I will be taking the advice on the back cover of recycling it fairly quickly. There's a great deal of padding here (pointless graphics with acres of space around them). What material there is, is quite good - which makes the lack of structure to it all the more annoying. The more detailed information you might expect to find, for example about recycling plastics, is missing - there's just a reference to a website (which turns out to be aimed at business users).

It is motivating, but so superficial that I think it's rather a wasted opportunity.

affordable !, 12 Oct 2006
Nicky Scott, Chairperson for the Community Composting Network in the UK, is the author of three small books (roughly 4 x 6 inches) dealing with waste reduction and has appeared in two videos about composting. His book, Composting - An Easy Household Guide, was originally published in 2005 and the second edition was released in 2006. The cover and all ninety-six pages are printed on 100% recycled paper.

This book is slightly more advanced than his smaller booklet, Composting For All. Both books discuss why compost is such an important factor in reducing stress on landfills. But here, Nicky shows how this one simple action can benefit everyone in the community and can actually affect global conditions as well. Nicky tells readers that approximately one-quarter of UK's methane gas emissions (one of the gases that contributes to global warming) are due to organic waste in landfills, which are decomposing improperly. When composts are given aerobic conditions there is very little gas production.
Nicky shows other advantages such as less odor in garbage cans and less volume for curb-side pick-up services to deal with - therefore garbage will be put out on the curb less often.

Nicky demonstrates how to get the right mix in the compost for optimal decomposition conditions. He then explains some of the different composting bins sold commercially. There is the perfect bin available for different situations from apartment dwellers to individuals, situations involving pest issues (rats, etc) and communal composting. His book covers Dalek-type bins, tumblers, digesters, green cones, green Johanna's, fermentation methods, worm bins and more.

Much of the information can be applied globally, though the stats and information in Composting- and Easy Household Guide is from the UK. Terms such as "fly tipping" have no definition in North America. The resource section is four pages long and provides information on seven organizations and lists three books and videos for readers to refer to.

~ ~ Book Reviewer: Lillian Brummet - Co-author of the book Trash Talk, a guide for anyone concerned about his or her impact on the environment - Author of Towards Understanding, a collection of poetry. (http://www.sunshinecable.com/~drumit)

Nuclear Decommissioning, 13 Oct 2004
The book, as is the University of Birmingham Postgraduate course on which it is based, is unique in bringing together material over the whole range of waste management, decommissioning and site remediation. It is essential reading for postgraduate students in this area, regulators, environmentalists and government agencies. It provides a basic understanding of the key principles, methodologies and current best practice. This well presented book contains 25 chapters under 5 broad headings: Fundamentals, Decommissioning, Project and program management, Waste management, and Site environmental remediation. There are numerous tables, figures and illustrations. Highly recommended. I have 2 copies for home and work!

Nuclear decommissioning.... Bayliss & Langley, 13 Oct 2004
The book, as is the University of Birmingham Postgraduate course on which it is based, is unique in bringing together material over the whole range of waste management, decommissioning and site remediation. It is essential reading for postgraduate students in this area, regulators, environmentalists and government agencies. It provides a basic understanding of the key principles, methodologies and current best practice. This well presented book contains 25 chapters under 5 broad headings: Fundamentals, Decommissioning, Project and program management, Waste management, and Site environmental remediation. There are numerous tables, figures and illustrations. Highly recommended. I have 2 copies for home and work!

The Recycle Bible!, 19 Sep 2006
In the beginning there was Recycle: the Essential Guide. Well, if only.

The subject of recycling can sometimes be perceived as dull and old fashioned. This book manages to provide all the essential elements you would need to be clued up on waste while presented in a modern and cool fashion.

An introduction by Lucy Siegle sets the tone. An overview of the history of waste and recycling is followed by a clear statement that we should learn and be inspired by the forces of nature where zero waste is a way of life.

Each recyclable material has its own section where you can find out what the item is composed of, why you should recycle it, any problems encountered, the recycling process itself and useful contacts.

A delicate balance between information and pictures is achieved here to make Recycling as interesting as possible. The text is accurate and concise and the fantastic array of pictures only serves to compliment the information that is present.

It not only provides relevant national information such as the Recycle Now campaign but also highlights projects throughout the world that are both thought provoking and inspiring.

Many books will inspire you to be more eco conscious but then will not supply you with the means of actually achieving this. Yet here, there is a directory of governmental organisations to point you in the right direction and a fantastic Sustainable design directory that shows it is possible to buy recycled goods for every day living. From recycled jewellery made out of metal and rubber to eco friendly flooring made from recycled aluminium, cork, glass and bamboo!

Essential reading??? You bet!


recycle this, 25 Nov 2007
I was thinking about buying a copy of this but I resolved to remain true to the spirit of the book and decided that I should wait until I found one in a skip instead.

Excellent Resource For Reducing "Waste", 02 Nov 2008
This is a great book for informing readers on how to reduce, reuse and recycle what most of us consider "waste". It has a concise and informative introduction to the topic and then provides an alphabetical listing of many common "waste" items and how best to be reduce, reuse or recycle them.

The book also points out quite a number of UK-specific organisations who offer recycling services which I found particularly useful. I have already found myself recycling or reusing products which I would have previous thrown in the rubbish bin.

Essential, 20 Oct 2007
This is the second edition of this nice little book is essential to those who want to minimise the impact of their consuming in the eviroment.

Hardly anything different from the first edition , colour drawings instead of black and white and a more attractive cover , if you have the first edition do not bother to buy this one as is essentialy the same book.

Very easy to read and printed ( guess ) in recycled paper with very useful guide is very informative about ways of reducing the amount of things that we send to the rubbish bin every week.

The book features an A to Z guide of all the items that can recycle from cars to jars and many different ways of reducing what can not be recycled.

Even if you live in a flat in the city and you ahve no access to a compost bin this book will illustrate how to stop generating rubbish.I found the chapter on office recycling particularly helpful.

Independently of your beliefs on global warming and politics ,there is argument that cosuming less natural resources is in everyone's interest.

5 stars

A pocket sized book packed with superb information , 27 Sep 2007
A pocket sized book packed with superb information on getting the most from what we use, where we buy it from and what we do with it. Another superb Green Books Guide.

The sheer volume of waste produced in the UK is staggering, every hour we produce enough rubbish to fill the Albert Hall, everyday Trafalgar Square could be filled to old Nelson's nostrils.

It wasn't always thus, in the 1950's our waste bins looked very different. The majority of homes were heated with coal so ash and clinker made up the majority of our waste until the Clean Air Act changed our home heating. There was very little plastic, as blister packs and processed food were a rarity. Food was predominantly bought loose and wrapped in paper, which was then used to light the fire. Most bottles were returnable with the small deposit ensuring that enterprising kids kept the streets and bins free of them in the search for pocket money, the milk man took the empties away. The rag and bone cart patrolled the streets picking up rags, old furniture and bones for bone china and bonemeal.

The advent of the supermarket, convenience food and fast living has fundamentally changed the way we consume, what we consume and how it is packaged. Plastic wrapped vegetables, packaged processed food, milk in cartons, drinks in plastic bottles and can. Every thing is packaged and presented in an eye catching way to encourage purchasing on crowded shelves. On average supermarket shoppers spend £470 a year on packaging, a sixth of their annual food spend.

Nicky Scott's Reduce Reuse Recycle is one of the most comprehensive guides available on how to both avoid packaged goods and what to do with what remains. Every possible purchase is listed from Aerosols to Yoghurt pots with ideas on how to reduce, reuse and recycle where appropriate. The Guide is full of useful hints and ideas as well as links to resources and organisations that can help reduce the waste your produce and maximise the utility of what you buy.

The three Rs of a greener home economic is not about sacrifice, nor for that matter expense, it is about concentrating on what we really need, so much of which is not actually materials but real engagement with what we do. It is about cutting down spending on what we don't use, like packing, getting maximum value both for ourselves the next user so that what we do buy is the best quality we can afford. This is book is a great little poc