	Download The Baby Footprints Challenge (PDF)
	How much do your appliances cost you? (PDF)
	The Energy Assistance Package (PDF)

Advice on Waste and Re-cyling

You may be surprised by how much more stuff you accumulate in your life when the smallest person in the household arrives. But recycling and reusing has never been easier to achieve – there are loads of good recycling facilities now throughout the Highlands, much of it on your doorstep. There are charity shops to appeal to every persuasion when it comes to passing things on, and thanks to the internet you now stand a much better chance of selling on the things you no longer need.

Give real nappies a go! There is lots of help and very inexpensive ways to get started and even just using real nappies some of the time will reduce your waste and save you a small fortune. The Baby Footprints Real Nappy Pack is free and contains 6 cute, quick-drying nappies – contact us today to get your pack or check out our events page to see where you can pick one up.

Please send in your top tips for reducing household waste to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

On the issue of waste it may make sense to give people ideas on how to cut out waste, as Sheila said a shopping list, keep leftovers for lunch etc. I set aside one day a week to do most of my cooking so I make efficient use of my cooker, I make a large batch of tomato sauce and portion it off to keep in the freezer rather than buying jars of pasta sauce. I make my own ready meals, pop them in the freezer for use later in the week when I’m in a hurry. If I have veggies that are starting to look a bit past it I make veggie stock and again it goes in the freezer to have to hand when I need it. Tired old fruit, it get’s stewed and used to flavour natural yoghurt, etc. Grow your own herbs, even if you don’t have a garden a couple of pots in the window will go a long way.

Mairi on Lewis

A cautionary tale: just heard the other day about someone’s 4 year old being so recycle-savvy that she picked up all the post and put it straight into the recycling box!