Have yourself an energy-saving little Christmas

Half of people planning to give friends and family cash toward their bills this year

Christmas 2022 looks like it’s going to be a frugal affair as millions of Britons feel the strain of rising utility bills and food prices.

And one UK waste company has found that up to half of people are planning to give at least one person in their immediate circle of family and friends cash toward paying their fuel bills.

UK waste collection company Divert.co.uk also found that millions are planning to rein in their Christmas celebrations this year, simply because an all-the-trimmings Yuletide is going to be far too expensive for many household budgets.

“From smaller presents to ditching the turkey roast, it’s going to be a money-saving Christmas,” says Divert.co.uk spokesperson Mark Hall.

“And the thing that struck us the most is the sheer number of people who tell us that they want to help those who are going to be choosing between heating their homes and having a hot meal.”

The gift of energy

There’s no hiding the fact that millions of families are struggling to pay the bills this year after unprecedented rises to the cost of living. Christmas looks like it’s going to be one with the thermostat turned right down.

And in a survey of 1600 households, 48% said they were already planning to give money to others at Christmas to help them with their bills through the festive season.

“Over and over again we heard the same stories of Christmas cut-backs, and the willingness to share the burden,” says Divert’s Mark Hall. For example:

Alex from York told us: “My mortgage payments have trebled in the last 12 months and there’s no denying I’m feeling the crunch. But there are others who are far worse than me, so for Christmas both of my grown-up children are going to be getting their electricity bills on me for a while.”
Lucy from Leeds said: “I’m going to be slipping fifty pounds in tenners through the letterbox of my elderly neighbour. She’s really struggling, and too proud to ask despite always complaining about her house being cold.”
John in Sheffield: “No turkey this year, no huge tree, no massive presents. But we’re going to give cash to the local food bank inside half a dozen anonymous Christmas cards so people can at least afford a hot meal – I don’t care what they spend it on, everybody deserves a bit of joy.”
Divert.co.uk’s Mark Hall: “That’s the kind of thing that we as a responsible company in the community want to encourage. It even softened my hardened heart, to be honest.”

 ‘I don’t want to cause a fuss, but…’

The news that people are willing to share what little they have spare comes after a previous Divert survey earlier this year showed that some 93% of senior citizens would refuse financial help from relatives to help them cover their bills.

“This is a fine example of good old British stubbornness of not wanting to cause a fuss for others while you suffer in silence,” says Hall. “And often they’re the people who actually need it the most.”

That being the case, you still have multiple options, say Divert.

Give them the money anyway – direct into their bank account or onto their utility bill balance if you know the details!
Give to a charity that will help them, and people in the same straits – a food bank, charities working to alleviate poverty, local groups offering Christmas meals for the lonely etc.
Get out and do some volunteering. It’s like giving a present to your local community.
And Divert.co.uk notices the first tentative steps toward utility gift cards, a concept the company called for earlier this year.

“One renewable energy company – Ripple Energy – is offering gift cards, but the recipient has to be one of their customers,” says Hall. “It’s a start, but the big companies need to catch on.

“But they’re probably worried that it might not be a great PR move. We think it’s a great PR move.”

With Christmas looking like it’s going to be somewhat smaller than usual, Divert says that the impetus should be on sharing with others less fortunate than you.

“After all, isn’t that what Christmas is all about?” says Mark. “And with half the country already planning to just that, we’re already on our way.”

Playing it safe, or another rubbish waste of money?

Expired protective gear worth millions of pounds purchased to fight the Covid-19 pandemic is now heading for the rubbish tip.

One UK waste and recycling company says they have received multiple enquiries to help dispose of huge quantities of PPE safely, including tons of alcohol-based hand sanitiser which could pose a fire risk.

Divert.co.uk, say that they’ve been contacted by hospitals, GP surgeries, large companies, and the suppliers themselves to deal with a mountain of unused and unusable masks, hand sanitisers and protective wear.

“Some people might say it’s an enormous waste of public money,” says Divert.co.uk spokesperson Mark Hall, “but the truth is a little bit more complicated than that.”

What’s going on then?

It’s quite simple – the people in charge of manufacturing and distributing Covid-19 PPE ordered far too much, and much of it is now past its use-by date. The only option is to bin it all, says Divert’s Mark Hall.

The last two winters have seen big spikes in the number of Covid cases and deaths. However, this hasn’t materialised (so far) this year, largely due to the fact that over 93% of eligible people in England have had at least one vaccine, and vulnerable people are still taking precautions.

There are still significant numbers of cases, but the numbers are far lower than previous years. So PPE is still needed, but not so much.

“It’s all a matter of predicting risk,” says Mark Hall, “They planned for the worst, and thankfully the worst – another big outbreak – hasn’t happened.”

While many will see this as an enormous waste of money and resources – and in some senses it’s true – there would have been (literally) Questions in the House if it was needed and not immediately available, workplace health and safety experts told us.

The scale of the problem is enormous, though. Divert.co.uk provided some examples of customer waste collection enquires that they’ve received in the past week alone:

900 pallets of hand sanitiser
At least 250,000 face masks
Pallets of protective clothing such as disposable aprons etc

Hall commented, “This is happening up and down the whole country, and it’s mind-blowing”.

What can you do about it?

The good news is that unused face masks can be recycled, but it’s not a simple process. This is especially the case if they contain metal that helps them keep their shape and protect the user with a good air seal.

Metals, fibres and plastics that go into medical-quality masks can all be recycled, but it’s labour intensive if you’re faced with quarter of a million of them.

The question of unused hand sanitiser is more difficult. Our advice to consumers has always been that small quantities of unused sanitiser are fine to be flushed down the drain and the plastic bottle recycled.

But a pallet of sanitiser contains something like 500 litres (110 gallons) of 70% alcohol-based liquid. It’s a massive fire risk, and too hazardous to be just tipped away. As one commentator puts it, “once it’s in the sewers and vapourised, one spark will blow the manhole covers sky high”.

“That’s why it’s got to be classed as hazardous waste and treated accordingly,” says Hall.

That means specialist treatments need to be used to convert ethyl and isopropyl alcohol into something less harmful. In the case of hand sanitiser, it can be recovered safely into alcohol which can be used as a fuel. This also helps to mitigate the cost of disposal.

“Nothing is entirely straightforward in the world of waste and recycling,” says Divert’s Mark Hall, “and that’s because – quite rightly – you can’t just bury anything that looks a bit difficult to deal with.”

Any further questions?

Question: Can’t it be used for things that aren’t Covid-19 related?

Answer: Yes, and a lot of it was. But there was still far too much to use.

Question: Can’t it just be given to a developing country?

Answer: No, because that would just shift the risk of infection elsewhere. Also, it would be insulting.

Question: Can you deal with this enormous quantity of expired PPE in our stores?

Answer: Why yes. Yes, we can.

The ritual ‘rubbing your hands on your trouser legs’ still rules in the gents

More than half of British men don’t use electric hand dryers in public toilets and would wipe their hands on their trouser legs even if paper towels are provided.

Those are the frankly weird findings of a waste and recycling company looking into the tonnes of paper towel waste that goes to landfill every year.

According to Yorkshire-based Divert.co.uk, it turns out that men are habitually greener (if not more hygienic) in public toilets by drying their hands on something that is essentially recyclable – their own trousers.

“We wanted to find out how to save paper towels, and also slash electricity used by super-fast dryers,” said Divert.co.uk spokesman Mark Hall, “but we found out something about male toilet habits we just had to share.”

“Interestingly, women are the complete opposite,” says Mark. “They’ve good higher standards, obviously”.

Dryer vs towel vs trousers: Let battle commence

Divert.co.uk asked hundreds of men and women which method they used to dry their hands after using a workplace or public toilet. The results were very much split along gender lines:

Men

Hand dryer 14%

Towels 20%

Wipe hands on clothing 52%

Don’t know/don’t care 14%

Women

Hand dryer 44%

Towels 40%

Wipe hands on clothing 5%

Don’t know/don’t care 11%

Asked why they don’t use the electric hand dryer or paper towels, men offered a variety of excuses:

“There’s always a queue, it’s far easier to wipe and walk” Tom H, London

“They’re unhygienic, blowing Covid germs all over the place” Andrew H, West Yorkshire

“They’re far too noisy these days, I can’t stand them” Colin B, York

“They never get your hands dry anyway. Why waste your time standing there?” Ben B, Swindon

“I’ll use paper towels if they’re there, otherwise it’s the trouser legs” Mike G, Nottingham

Additionally, a significant number of men (10% of the don’t know/don’t care) column say they don’t wash their hands at all after using the toilet. That figure was only 2% among woman.

As one man told us: “I only bother if I wee on them, which isn’t often. My aim’s really good”. Tony H, Ilkley

But on the other hand, one woman said: “Hygiene is important, especially in the pandemic. Washing and drying your hands is vital and we can’t afford to let our standards drop”.

What’s the take-home from this (apart from toilet germs)?

What started as an earnest investigation into the wasted resources involved in the art of handwashing became an eye-opening voyage of discovery into male toilet habits.

“We don’t as a rule hang around toilets asking pointed questions, but our industry is all about trying to cut down on paper waste that goes to landfill,” says Divert.co.uk spokesperson Mark Hall. “Sometimes you just end up with totally unexpected results.”

Here’s why we were asking: According to one hand dryer manufacturer, the average paper towel dispenser in a public toilet gets through about 80,000 paper towels a year, weighing 160kg. All of this goes to landfill.

And while giant steps are being made to decrease the power and noise levels from electric hand dryers, there are still tens of thousands out there drawing massive amounts of power for a 20 second drying cycle.

“That almost seems to sell the idea of wiping your hands on your trousers,” says Divert.co.uk’s Mark Hall.

But with dryers becoming more energy efficient, faster and far less noisy, it stands to reason that the age of the soggy paper towel is coming to an end.

And for the men of the UK, at least, that means the end of the wipe-and-walk of shame.

You might want to skip this bit

Our survey didn’t go exactly to plan, and we cannot finish without revealing what one truck driver told us after revealing he was one of the few who users paper towels all the time:

“I have seen with my own eyes an elderly gentleman drying his willy with a hand dryer at a motorway service station,” said this Knight of the Road, “It is something I shall take to my grave.” Mark T Addingham

Divert adds new gutter cleaning services to its offering, alongside core rubbish removal and recycling services.

York-based waste collection and recycling company Divert have branched out to start offering professional and local gutter cleaning for homes and businesses around Yorkshire. Investment, recruitment, and training in the use of state-of-the-art skyVac® gutter vacuums means we can now offer safe, efficient, and cost-effective gutter cleaning.

Strong growth since forming in early 2021 saw Divert add to our team and distinctive fleet of purple vans earlier in 2022. Following on from that success, now feels like the right time to introduce the further addition of gutter cleaning services to our roster.

Why clean gutters?

Gutter cleaning and rubbish removal go hand-in-hand – as with both services our expert team get rid of unwanted waste from residential and commercial properties. While some people might try to clear their own gutters, we use state-of-the-art equipment for fast, effective, and economical results.

Clean gutters are important on any type of building. They ensure the smooth flow of rainwater and proper drainage. Leaves, twigs, and debris can naturally build up in roof gutters and cause blockages.

These clogs prevent effective drainage and may lead to standing water accumulating in the gutters, which adds unexpected weight and pressure. This can cause water to overflow, leaks, and damage to the property. Our gutter cleaning services help protect against such risks.

Market-leading gutter cleaning systems

At Divert, our team are trained in and use the innovative skyVac® gutter vacuums to clean the gutters of any home or business. They use these high-reach vacuums from the ground to clean your gutters safely and effectively.

There’s no need for ladders, scaffolding, or cherry pickers that take time, cost money, and may damage guttering if leant against it. And once all the dirt and debris is sucked up into the vacuum below, we’ll remove and dispose of it properly – just like we do with our other waste removal services.

Each skyVac® gutter vacuum has a camera on the end, so our team can see inside your gutters and ensure they remove every bit of dirt. Plus, they can use the camera to take photos before and after the gutter cleaning to show you the results.

Where do Divert offer gutter cleaning?

Currently we provide gutter cleaning services for homes and businesses in the same areas where we collect your waste across Yorkshire. These include four main towns and cities across the White Rose County:

• York
• Leeds
• Harrogate
• Bradford

How can I arrange gutter cleaning?

Interested in gutter cleaning for your home or business? Contact us online for a fast and free quote.

Or if you want to know more about the world of gutter cleaning and services we provide, please call us.

Winged hooligans bring misery to the heroes who empty our bins

A new front has opened in the war between mankind and vicious flying fury – the seagulls are after our refuse collectors, and they’re bigger and angrier than before.

Refuse collectors all over the country say that the avian criminals are bolder than ever in their attempts to get their beaks into tasty rubbish, to the point that they’ll physically attack any poor human that stands in their way.

And one national waste and recycling company,  Divert.co.uk – says the problem is only getting worse, and has the pictures to prove it.

“It’s like a scene out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie,” says Divert.co.uk spokesperson Mark Hall, “The one with all the birds”.

While seagulls and rubbish dumps go together in a love-hate relationship like Han and Leia in Star Wars, Hall explains, “these new super-angry seagulls are becoming a total birdemic, with our teams being forced to run for their lives”.

Birdemic: What’s going on?

When Eric Cantona famously made his bizarre ‘seagulls follow the trawler’ speech, he was wrong in every way. Seagulls, as we all know, follow the bin lorry, and the feathered fiends seem to be getting more vicious every day.

Barely a day goes by without the beady eyes of the airborne hooligans settling upon one of our team emptying a bin or unloading the truck, without them swooping in for the kill, squawking like a demented car alarm.

Whether they’re protecting their young, looking for tasty treats among the refuse, or that they simply hate humans, it looks like increasing numbers of urban gulls are fighting for every scrap of food they can find, and they won’t let waste collectors stand in their way.

And one thing is certain among veterans of the waste industry- these monsters are more numerous and far larger than the scrawny specimens of the past.

“It’s like they came from an Evil Scientist’s lab”, says Divert’s Mark Hall, “but we know that the birds are eating better, getting more confident, and know they’re getting the better of us.”

“God help us all if these monsters start organising themselves.”

“It was like a nightmare become real,” says refuse operator Dariusz of one of his several bird-based ordeals, “they came out of nowhere and just went for me, all beaks and claws.

“I had to run for the truck cab to save myself,” he said, “there were already two other guys in there doing the same.”

It’s even worse by the coast where, emboldened by the easy pickings left by careless tourists, the winged ASBO candidates have declared war on people tasked with taking their food supply away – the vulnerable, and some would say innocent, refuse operative.

“Empty a seafront bin?” says refuse collector Mark Taylor of Addingham, “not without full protective gear. I’m ex-Forces and nothing terrifies me more than those flying gits.”

What can be done?

The rise of the urban gull and their evil human-hating ways comes directly from human activity.

High-rise buildings mean that they can lay their eggs and raise their brood out of the reach of natural predators like foxes. More seagulls surviving means less food to go around, and that has turned them into vicious pecking machines with a liking for extreme violence in their search for sustenance.

That makes bins, rubbish dumps, and recycling centres a natural target for feathered death from above, and the one thing between them and their target are our day-glo clad heroes, armed with nothing but a broom and their wits.

People feeding the gulls, either in city centres or the seafront, only encourage them to associate human activity with food, to the point that they will swoop in and steal it out of your hand.

And it’s a psychological battle, as it’s very much frowned upon to actually hurt or kill a gull, so it’s more about deterrence than resorting to violence to end this bewildering war.

Mark Hall of Divert.co.uk say: “That means homeowners, landlords and businesses should make their rooftops unwelcoming for gulls so that numbers might gradually decline.

“Food waste should be well wrapped to prevent the birds getting a whiff of your half-eaten kebab.”

“But most of all – Tourists and city folk: PLEASE Stop feeding the gulls. We’ve seen enough pecking injuries in the refuse industry to last a lifetime.”

PLEASE NOTE THIS SERVICE IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE

Because sometimes you just need to destroy something, says UK waste company

Has your family sent you mad? Is your boss driving you crazy?

Waste collection company Divert.co.uk are offering customers the opportunity to book a mobile ‘rage room’, which will let you smash a container full of items such as old furniture and dishes to blow off some steam.

Divert.co.uk spokesman Mark Hall explains, “think of an escape room, but instead of carefully going through all the items looking for clues you get to go HULK SMASH on everything.”

“It’s a great way to relieve some stress and have a bit of fun after the last year, so grab a bat and start swinging!”

If you’re angry and you know it, break some things

We’ve all felt so angry that you’ve just wanted to – in the words of Basil Fawlty – give it a damn good thrashing.

It turns out there is a logical explanation for why we do this instead of bottling up our rage, and it’s called catharsis. We prefer HULK SMASH, to be honest.

The catharsis/HULK SMASH theory views aggression as an effective way to reduce angry feelings, as a way to vent and rid ourselves of negative energy.*

This is the basic idea behind the growing phenomenon of ‘rage rooms’, which provides a safe space for you to break items without having to worry about hurting yourself or cleaning up afterwards.

It’s even been prescribed in the US as an alternative therapy for those looking to relieve built-up tension.

So, if you are wanting to HULK SMASH your way through a pile of junk, Divert.co.uk have just the thing for you.

The on-demand waste removal company came up with the idea after seeing how successful the idea was across the pond, plus they had a surplus of broken junk already at their disposal.

Hall: “Here’s the deal, we will turn up at your house with a mobile unit full of old bits of furniture, crockery, basically anything you can smash to bits.

“We’ll kit you out in PPE and give you a sanitised clean bat, and let you go nuts.”

Smash hits

Whether you want to blow off some steam or just have some fun, the mobile rage room is a unique experience that you can book to turn up outside your door.

Mark Hall from Divert.co.uk says you can expect to see a whole range of smashable items in the mobile rage room, so if you’ve ever wanted to throw a glass at a wall, go to town on a printer, or demolish a wardrobe – they’ve got you covered.

The team have even put together a rage room playlist for you to really get into the swing of it, including these *smash hits*:

Wrecking ball – Miley Cyrus
Killing in the name of – Rage against the Machine
Don’t stop me now – Queen (or Hammer to Fall, we’re flexible)
Sledgehammer – Peter Gabriel
Beat it – Michael Jackson
I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass – Nick Lowe
Jump Around – House of Pain
The Birdie Song (because it makes us want to smash things)
Hall: “We will even let you bring your own music to make the experience more personal for you, we won’t judge if you want to smash up things to a bit of Taylor Swift if your scumbag ex cheated on you.”

And to round off the experience, you’ll even get the opportunity to pose for a photo at the end with your bat outside the truck – the perfect way to show off how much fun you’ve had on social media.

“We promise it’ll be an experience you’ll never forget, and you’ll leave with a clearer mind to focus on the more positive things in life.”

“Plus it helps us get rid of some of the junk we’ve been collecting, so win-win really!”

PLEASE NOTE THIS SERVICE IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE

It’s going green, it’s going green, football’s going green!

The multi-billion pound football industry is in a unique position to promote good causes and needs to start wearing its green credentials on its sleeve.

But according to one group of waste and recycling experts, that’s easier said than done with many major football clubs bottom of the table when it comes to acting responsibly.

In fact, says eco waste collection company divert.co.uk, most people have probably never heard of the world’s greenest football club, even though they play in the English Football League.

“From partnerships with airlines, to kits that exploit foreign workers, too many football clubs pay lip-service to being green,” says Divert.co.uk spokesperson Mark Hall.

“And we can see the worst offenders right now, as top clubs jet off for long-haul pre-season tours.”

Come on you greens!

There’s no argument as to who is the world’s greenest football club – they even play in a green strip.

1. Forest Green Rovers – FGR play in England’s League Two, and are based in Gloucestershire. They’ve only been in the league for a few seasons, but they’ve already made a big impact.

The world’s first vegan football club, they’re recognised by both the UN and FIFA as the greenest football team in the world.

Owner Dale Vince – he also owns environmentally friendly energy company Ecotricity – has introduced solar panels at the stadium, a fully organic pitch, and a vegan ethos that bans red meat products from the club.

Even their green-coloured strip is green, made from recycled plastics and coffee grounds. Hard to beat when it comes to green credentials, and a credit to English football.

OK, which club is in second place?

Being green isn’t just for the small-fry. Even the monster Premier League clubs have made commitments to sustainability, and the results might surprise you. And it breaks this Arsenal-supporting press officer’s heart to say that the next on the list is…

2. Tottenham Hotspur – A brand new stadium gave the Spurs the chance to start again, and greener. They’ve popped to the top of the Premier League sustainability chart with a slew of environmental policies that keeps them just ahead of…

3. Arsenal – The club processes its waste on site (fans say this happens on the pitch every match day), and has a space-age battery system that makes the most of green energy.

4. Brighton and Hove Albion – A relatively new out-of-town stadium, where the club is doing its best to use renewable power, locally-sourced refreshments, and slashing single-use plastics.

5. Athletic Bilbao – An unusual European club which literally only buys local, including their players – the Basque club only signs players native to the Basque region. As green credentials go, not signing players from the other side of the planet recalls a long-lost era of local teams for local people.

6. Manchester United – A club this large and this visible needs to be sustainable, and United not only works to improve its green credentials, they go out of their way to teach fans how to reduce waste and increase recycling.

Mark Hall: “Most clubs are now publishing their green policies as they realise that tens of thousands of fans descending on the stadium by car, drinking out of plastic cups, and eating meat-based snacks is very ungreen indeed.

“And the Premier League Sustainability table, now in its third year, is not only making those left behind think twice, it’s also educating fans to act more responsibly.”

Heading for relegation

We’re not about naming and shaming the laggards, and not even the clubs listed above are entirely innocent. Here’s some of the behaviours that football clubs need to stamp out to improve their green credentials:

Unnecessary Travel: Many clubs claim to be green, but then they jet off to the US or the Far East for lucrative pre-season friendlies that only exist to please sponsors. If your favourite club does this, have a word. Even flying to away matches in the UK should be frowned upon. Top tip: Avoid unnecessary foreign travel by getting knocked out of European competition at the earliest possible opportunity. And that leads us to…

Dodgy sponsorship deals: Is your club sponsored by a long-haul airline? Does that airline use its sponsorship to greenwash their credentials? Not naming names, but – frankly – it’s embarrassing.

Sweatshop replica kits: A decades-long blot on the sports industry. The XXXXXXL pie-eater size shirt you’ve bought from the club shop for somewhere north of sixty pounds was probably manufactured for a fraction of the cost in a cramped, dangerous factory by overworked labourers, some of school age. This needs to end.

Players with massive cars: How can your club claim to be green when the star striker turns up in a petrol-guzzling supercar? Be more like England star John Stones, who drives an old Mini to work. Clubs should insist players only appear on club premises if they arrive in a green vehicle.

“Millions of people follow football, and clubs should be setting an example,” says Mark Hall. “They can’t all be like Forest Green, but they can at least try.”

How online listings are giving criminals intelligence so they can rob your house

Moving home is one of the most stressful things anybody can do, and stress levels can go through the roof if you’re burgled while doi

And one domestic refuse and house clearance company says that criminals are using simple online tools to help them get inside your house.

According to rubbish removal company Divert.co.uk, floor plans and photos on estate agency websites are giving the bad guys an advantage, and could end up costing householders dearly“Everything that a burglar needs to know is on those websites,” says Divert spokesperson Mark Hall, “And it would be the RIGHT MOVE to ask for your details to be removed.

Burglar’s paradise

Everybody is looking for a quick house sale, and that means signing up for all the gimmicks that estate agents offer.

That means a floor plan, multiple interior and exterior photos, and – in some cases – walk-through videos and virtual 3D house tours.

While it’s all a great selling point, it’s also providing free intelligence to potential criminals.

A floor plan allows them to work out where to go once they’ve gained access
Photos show where all the luxury goods and valuables might be
A walk-through video lets them work out where they might be seen from the street
They could even help them decide if there are valuables in the garage or out-building
“All this gives the burglar time to plan their crime, giving them those vital minutes to get in, rob your home, and make a clean getaway” says Divert.co.uk’s Mark Hall.

“And coupled with Google Street View, they’ve probably already got a good idea of access points and CCTV blind spots,” he says.

The floor plan and dozens of detailed photographs are a public record of what you have in your home, and could be a security nightmare as you try to sell your home.

“You might be the kind of person who looks after their online identity and shreds all their personal documents to combat identity theft, but you could still unwittingly be inviting the dregs of society into the otherwise private space where you live.”

What can you do?

If you’re moving house, you should never forget that you’re totally in control of what the general public gets to see of your home, no matter what pushy estate agents might tell you.

While plenty of photos, floor plans and promotional videos might attract potential buyers, you will have to balance that with your own security. So here are a few tips to help keep your property safe:

Insist on the bare minimum of internal and external photographs to show your home at its best
Make sure that any photos are just generic views that show a room’s layout
No close-ups of value items. TIP: Hide away your valuables before the photographer arrives
Ask for no floor plan – the written description should be enough for most potential viewers
Turn down the opportunity for a walk-through video or online 3D guided tour
“But most of all,” says Divert.co.uk’s Mark Hall, “remember that you have the final say as to what goes into the estate agent listing.”

“If you have a problem with any of the images they produce, then reject them. It’s your house, your privacy, your security, and totally your decision.”

Now that the vast majority of home searches are now done online through either local agency sites or the mega websites like Rightmove and Zoopla, it’s disconcerting to know that anybody in the country could be looking inside your house.

“While that’s welcome in the context of actually getting potential buyers to look at your place, it’s the ones with the darker motives you have to be wary of,” says Mark Hall.

Just say AMAZ-NO and ween ourselves off our mail order addiction

Everybody should take a two-week break from ordering from Amazon and other online retailers to help make the world a better place to live in.

A British waste and recycling company says that by weening ourselves off our addiction for mail order shopping, we could save tonnes of waste packing, not to mention tonnes of CO2 emissions while safeguarding local jobs.

Cardboard waste collection company Divert.co.uk wants more people to shop locally, rather than relying on an environment-destroying mail order industry.

“We’re talking millions of packages being sent out every single day in this country alone,” says Divert.co.uk spokesperson Mark Hall, “and being a waste company we have to deal with the mind-boggling fall-out”.

What’s the problem?

The Covid pandemic and the ease of buying things with just a couple of clicks has got much of the country used to shopping from home – to the point that it is damaging the environment and other sections of the economy.

Around 90% of Brits are Amazon customers, and the company is now the UK’s largest courier service, accounting for some 15% of the 5.4bn parcels sent in the UK annually.

Each parcel means more packaging going to waste, and another van journey for a courier. That is, according to Divert, wasted resources all over the place – “Especially when the order is for an everyday item which could just have easily been purchased at a local shop,” says Mark Hall.

And Amazon is just one online retailer operating in the UK, with the fast fashion industry equally responsible for tens of millions of parcels, many of which come with plastic packaging which is not easily recycled.

Factor in the news that up to a quarter of all e-commerce purchases are subsequently returned, you are doubling the amount of wasted packaging and CO2 emissions. And that’s before you realise that many returned items – especially clothes – are simply destroyed. Everybody loses.

“If we all took a break from Amazon, Asos and all the rest, we would be saving so many resources,” says Mark Hall. “We’ve got to break this addiction to convenience.”

What’s the plan, then?

Divert.co.uk is nothing if not relentlessly optimistic, and that’s why we are putting the idea of No Mail Order Fortnight out there, otherwise known as AMAZ-NO (if Amazon’s legal people don’t mind).

We want to ask the public to go a whole fortnight without buying anything online.

That will mean a whole lot of pressure taken off a number of things – such as council household waste collections and overflowing bins; not to mention pressure on supply chains and the use of diesel fuel to shift those millions of parcels around the country.

Instead, says Divert.co.uk’s Mark Hall, we should return to our old habits of shopping locally and supporting local businesses.

Many local shopping centres are still far quieter than they should be as society bounces back from the pandemic, and local shops represent something that should be supported, he says.

“This way you’re helping local jobs, while also preventing all that waste of packing and unnecessary delivery journeys.”

And in the case of clothes and shoes shopping, you actually get to try them on before you buy, feel the quality, and see the items without deceptive photography tricking you into an ill-advised purchase.

“That means a far smaller chance of an item being returned and sentenced to landfill,” says Divert.co.uk’s Mark Hall.

It’s a simple message: Give up the mail order to save resources and shop greener.

Lack of public toilets is putting public health at risk

In a public service announcement, we never thought we’d have to make, the public is urged not to use litter bins as toilets.

But it’s something a waste collection and recycling company is tackling head-on because of the public health risks involved – especially to put-upon refuse collectors.

Divert.co.uk puts the majority of the blame on drunken late-night revellers, but also partially on the lack of public toilets in town and city centres all over the country.

“Public urination is a scourge that ruins many a Friday and Saturday night out, but also the Saturday and Sunday mornings of the people who have to clear it up,” says Divert.co.uk spokesperson Mark Hall.

“We estimate that 1 in 4 bins has pee on or in it come Sunday morning”

“This needs a two-way fix – more public loos for nights out, and a change in people’s behaviour.”

The Pee Problem

On any given weekend night, town centres are filled with well-lubricated revellers, looking for any one of three or more things: something to eat, a taxi or bus home, and a toilet.

We’ve no opinion on the taxi or the food (except, of course, to recycle your food waste correctly), but it’s the toilets that crank our gears.

Stuck for somewhere to empty their bladders, the average drunk will instead use anything or anywhere they deem appropriate.

This, unfortunately, means, shop doorways, alleyways, or – increasingly – bins.

And somebody’s got to clean it all up in the morning.

Doorways and alleyways can be hosed down of urine, vomit and faeces, but have you ever had to deal with a bin that is swishing about with human urine? You can trust us – it’s not pleasant.

It’s a hazard to public health, and most of all it is a genuine hazard for a refuse collector whose job is unpleasant enough as it is. And that’s before we mention the unbagged nappies and dog mess…

The Pee Solution

That’s why Divert wants easy, cost-effective solutions, such as those used in European cities known to be party locations.

With far fewer public toilets available due to budget squeezes, and the impracticality of keeping them open late at night where they might be misused by undesirable elements,

Amsterdam, for example (and we can now list a recent visit as a work fact-finding mission) drops portable urinals at key locations in the city centre on weekend evenings, and collects them again first thing the next morning.

It’s cheap, effective, and there’s a far lower chance of earning yourself a charge of outraging public decency and a trip to see the local magistrate.

Portable urinals in town centres are a rare sight in the UK – they were tried in some locations but were largely withdrawn for various reasons. You’re more likely to see TARDIS-like portaloos instead, which are unsightly and very unpopular with people who take pride in how their town centre looks.

And with the invention of an effective pop-up female urinal this year*, it’s possible there may be “peequality” in town centres after closing time.

But before that all happens, we need a big change in people’s behaviour on nights out. And that’s the tricky task of stopping public urination at source.

Divert.co.uk’s Mark Hall has this appeal for late night revellers: “Please don’t pee in rubbish bins, in the street, or shop doorways. You’re grown-ups, at least try to behave like one.

“As my mum used to say before a long car journey: Tie a knot in it if you have to.”