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I was walking home from the local shops last night when I spied between the wood and wire panels of a fence, a load of beer cans stuffed inbetween. Then, a few minutes later, as I was walking through the woodland at the end of my road, I saw more beer cans littered around. As per usual, it’s often Fosters cans that you see littering the place.

This makes me think – Why are there no reverse vending machines in Farnborough? For that matter, why are there so few reverse vending machines anywhere in this country?

Can you believe it was 2 and a half years ago that we first wrote about reverse vending? The couple in that story, from Petersfield in Hampshire, paid for their honeymoon by collecting litter and feeding the reverse vending machine. The very same thought went through my mind last night – The benefits are many:

1. I could benefit personally by picking up those empty aluminium cans and taking them to get money for them. Money plus the satisfaction of doing a good job for the community and seeing my neighbourhood clean is the most beneficial personal outcome. Mercenary, I know
2. Any other Tom, Dick or Harry passing could make a few coins by doing so.
3. The perpetrators who dropped the litter in the first place could clear up after themselves and get a small discount on their drinking habits. But then, if they’re the sort of people who drink Fosters lager and drop litter in the first place, then that’s probably hoping too much for them.

So why are there still so few reverse vending machines around? Whilst I have the utmost respect for anti-litter campaigns and the likes of organisations like Keep Britain Tidy, I still think that messages like “You shouldn’t drop rubbish” and “you should keep it tidy” are weak and, to prove a point, they have been ignored for years. What we need is something to help backup that message with where and why you should do so, and “keeping it tidy” still isn’t enough – the financial incentive in these austere times, should help for the more thrifty amongst us.

So if there are any reverse vending companies out there or anyone else who can answer the question “Why are there no reverse vending machines in Farnborough?” then we’d love to hear from you. And, if that doesn’t get enough attention, then we’re going to have to approach a few of these reverse vending companies, supermarkets and councils ourselves and get some answers for you readers.

Lush, the high street retailer and maker of fresh hand-made cosmetics, are concerned about the waste from traditional toothpaste dispensers. Most toothpaste tubes and modern fangled pumps end up in landfill so Lush have come up with a simple solution – Toothy Tabs.

Just open up the cardboard box, pop a toothy tab in your mouth, crunch it up, brush with a wetted brush and voila – clean teeth and no waste.

Marketed under the “Dirty” range, in a black box, we’re not totally sure of the branding, as it seems to go against the grain of the usual “minty fresh” cliché of the major players. But hey, what do we know and maybe that’s the whole point

But you’ve gotta give it to Lush – Their shops are the sweetest smelling little paradises on the high street and their soaps and bath bombs are divine (Yes, even the guys admit to being more than a little bit taken by Lush stuff)

So if you want to keep your teeth clean and reduce waste then why not give Lush Toothy Tabs a go? 2 quid for a 12g box of 40 tabs, they’re vegan, they’re not tested on animals and they’re available in 5 flavours.