DIY Bar – Weekend Project
Who doesn’t love a bit of DIY on a Saturday afternoon? Not only that, but this one will allow you to sit back and relax at the bar after a hard day’s work. Yes, that’s right, a BAR!
Team member, Caoimhe Sheridan, takes us out of the (home) office and into the garden with this fun and functional DIY bar.
To build this upcycled bar all you will need is:
- 2 crates
- 2 planks of wood (longer than the width of the crates)
- Screws
- A drill
- A saw (preferably electric)
- Fun decorations
Step 1: Simply cut one of your crates in half.
Step 2: Position the full crate on its side, slotting the half crates into each side to build the bar structure. Drill at least two screws into either side of the bar.
Step 3: At this point you can sand down your wood, but this is optional. Once the bottom structure is sturdy, add one plank of wood on top, screwing as you go. Next, cut the other plank in half and attach to the two sides of the bar.
Step 4: Spice up your bar with any decorations you can find. We painted the bar counter and a recycled cardboard frame, adding fairy lights and candles to finish it off.
Step 5: Finally, don’t forget to send us on a snap of your creation to marketing@citybin.com. You can also share to your favourite social media channels!
4 Reasons to Hire a Skip for your DIY Projects
If you have ever undertaken any type of home renovation job before, you will know that even a seemingly minor DIY project is no walk in the park. Bearing this in mind, and to make the job more efficient and as easy as possible for yourself, we highly recommend hiring our skip hire Dublin service. Not only can a skip help make your life easier, but you could be helping the environment too! Read more to see how our skip hire Dublin offers are the best solution…
Space
Home renovations demand quite a lot of space. Not only do you need room for tools, equipment, and the like, but you also need to move any waste materials out of the way. Instead of letting clutter pile up, a skip will allow you to clear out the junk as you go, creating more space for you to work away, instead of having to pause every 10 minutes to clear space. Having a skip will help keep your space organised, especially if you want to hire a skip for a garden renovation. However, even if you’re renovating your living room, it still makes things a lot easier to have one place to pile your bulkier waste. Our skip hire Dublin offers come in two sizes – perfect for many types of jobs.
Safety
Tying in closely with our last point, renovations are messy by nature and sometimes quite unpredictable. The debris from renovations can include pipes, plaster and other sharp materials, which can make it arguably a lot more dangerous than typical garden waste. You do not want these waste materials lying around for someone to trip over. Our skip hire Dublin service for your DIY renovation will make things a lot easier, and safer, by removing the most dangerous elements from your immediate area.
We will help you choose the correct skip size to best fit your need
There is nothing more annoying than running out of space for your waste in the middle of a clear-out, or renovation. Here at The City Bin Co., we have different skip sizes, and our skip hire Dublin team will be able to guide you in deciding the best skip hire fit for your job. We have mini skips for smaller jobs and larger skips for bigger projects. This way, you won’t need to worry about running out of space during your skip hire duration, and similarly, you will have peace of mind about getting the cheapest skip hire solution suitable.
It’s quick and effortless to get rid of waste when you’re done
Home renovations and clear-outs are tough enough, without having to worry about what you’re going to do about all the waste acquired. Without claiming that hiring a skip will eliminate the clean up entirely, having one receptacle to put all your waste into, will keep the effort required to a minimum. Your clean-up will be done in no time.
As a bonus, when you hire a skip from The City Bin Co. you can rest assured that as many materials as possible will be recycled. We have committed ourselves to ultimately diverting 100% of waste from landfill, so none of your waste will end up there! You can click here to find out more about our skip hire Dublin service.
Last-update of the article: 07/02/2020.
Explorations in Learning…
The Explore Programme is a 6-week initiative to improve participation in lifelong learning in the Irish workforce.
The aim of this course is to provide new opportunities for the existing workforce particularly in the area of digital skills, health and wellbeing, and in developing individual skills.
The City Bin Co. piloted this learning opportunity with a selection of our frontline heroes in Galway and has been delighted to collaborate with GRETB (Mervue). We enrolled 16 of our frontline workers, drivers, helpers, yard workers, and sales team members on this training initiative. All participants were provided with a digital device as part of the course and have received GRETB tuition using the device in order to research and create a series of experiential work-based projects on some aspect of their daily role. We look forward to rolling this out in Dublin in 2020.
Examples of the projects include ‘different types of waste’, our new service ‘CityJunk’, ‘Safe working environment practices’, ‘defensive driving’, and ‘health & safety at work’. In addition to tuition from GRETB, our management team was on hand to mentor and support participants in preparing for their end of course presentation of projects.
The course culminated with some individual presentations on their chosen topics to the GRETB team and colleagues from The City Bin Co. The quality of the work was really fantastic and detailed, and many of us came away with a new appreciation of some of the important tasks and checks that keep us on the road every day.
IBM Hackathon winner helps fight rash of wasted food
food waste2
IBM recently called on developers in the U.S. to use open-source technology to create solutions to fight food waste. The Food Waste Developer Challenge wrapped up in August and the winner of the competition has just been announced.
Food waste is a major issue in the U.S. By the USDA’s estimates, 30-40 percent of the food supply goes to waste. In 2010, when the agency compiled its most comprehensive food waste figures, that corresponded to roughly 133 billion pounds and $161 billion worth of food.
The consequences of this waste range from food security to ecological issues.
“The land, water, labor, energy and other inputs used in producing, processing, transporting, preparing, storing, and disposing of discarded food are pulled away from uses that may have been more beneficial to society,” according to the USDA, “and generate impacts on the environment that may endanger the long-run health of the planet.”
Incredibly, given that food security is such a pressing issue in this country and elsewhere, food waste is the single largest component going into municipal landfills, according to the EPA.
IBM, along with partner AngelHack, created the Food Waste Challenge on the premise that coders can help create a more transparent and real-time supply chain tracking how food is sold and fulfilled with waste reduction in mind. Developers in the contest were asked to leverage IBM’s code patterns and data sets to create new solutions that dramatically reduce waste through grocery and food chains. Some of the tools at their disposal include IBM Watson Visual Recognition, IBM Blockchain, and chatbot APIs.
One month and more than 100 registered teams later, IBM has announced that a winner is a group called FreShip.
FreShip combines software and hardware to minimize food waste through constant monitoring along with a smart eCommerce platform that allows food that would otherwise be wasted to be resold elsewhere. FreShip places Arduino and NB-IoT technologies in food shipping containers to help monitor food freshness during transport. Smart bidding contracts are deployed via blockchain.
“Using IBM Watson machine learning, FreShip analyzes photos of food to determine how fresh it is and provides options for what to do with food instead of letting it go to waste,” according to IBM. “For example, if a supermarket orders bananas and due to shipping delays the bananas are too ripe for them to sell, instead of them being thrown away, FreShip would allow them to redirect this shipment of bananas to a manufacturer that could use them.”
The result is a reduction in the loss for the supermarket, as well as less food waste.
For winning the contest, FreShip will get a few thousand bucks. A bigger prize, however, maybe the exposure the first place finish brings. IBM will be inviting the FreShip team to a dinner summit with grocery industry leaders, as well as showcasing the technology through various IBM channels.
Carlyle Cardinal Ireland Invests in The City Bin Co.
Dublin, Ireland – Carlyle Cardinal Ireland (CCI), the private equity fund established by The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) and Cardinal Capital Group, has agreed to make an investment in The City Bin Co., an award-winning waste management company. The investment, terms of which are not being disclosed, is expected to be completed in the coming months.
The City Bin Co. was co-founded by Gene Browne in 1997 to bring a customer-centric approach to the waste management industry. Today the company is a leading provider of waste management services in both Dublin and Galway City, serving in excess of 80,000 household and commercial customers. Unlike traditional waste operators, The City Bin Co. solely focuses on source segregated waste collection from residential households and commercial businesses. The company’s core strategic focus is customer service and The City Bin Co.’s investment in people and its reputation for service excellence are renowned. The relentless pursuit of customer service excellence has delivered industry-leading customer retention rates and exceptional customer satisfaction as measured by Net Promoter Score (NPS). Approximately 150 people are employed by the company across its operations.
Gene Browne will remain as CEO of the company and the existing management team, including Niall Killilea, Managing Director, and Louise Niemann, Chief Financial Officer, will continue to lead the company. Ian Daly, Director, Cardinal Capital Group, Esmond Greene, Director, The Carlyle Group, and Jonathan Cosgrave, Managing Director, The Carlyle Group will join the board of directors of The City Bin Co. upon completion of the investment.
Gene Browne, the CEO, The City Bin Co., said: “The City Bin Co. has grown consistently in a very competitive market through our customer-focused business model. This approach has served us very well and truly differentiated the company. We’re delighted to partner with a fund of the pedigree, experience, and resources of CCI as we prepare for our next stage of growth. Our focus will remain on setting the standard for customer service across the waste management industry and delivering exceptional value for money to our business and household clients”.
Esmond Greene, Director, The Carlyle Group, said: “The City Bin Co. investment is CCI’s eleventh in the Irish market and we are delighted to partner with a business which has an unrivaled reputation for customer service, strong brand recognition and an experienced management team that has overseen a doubling in size of the business over the past 5 years. The fragmented waste management services market provides a significant opportunity to service growing household and business demand for professional waste management services through continued investment and via acquisitions, and we look forward to supporting the company’s continued expansion and to growing the 80,000+ customer base”.
Ian Daly, the Director, Cardinal Capital Group, said: “Managing waste is a critical part of any household or commercial customer’s budget and The City Bin Co.’s service and technology proposition enables it to employ the most effective and sustainable methods in processing more than 100,000 tonnes of black, green and brown waste every year. The Irish waste market is continually evolving and CCI’s focus is always to grow the companies it invests in. We and management have a collective ambition to double the size of the business over the next 5 – 6 years through a combination of organic and acquisitive growth.”
CCI has been an active growth investor in Ireland since 2014. The City Bin Co. is the fund’s eleventh investment and CCI continues to explore other investment opportunities across the Irish market. Current CCI investments include The AA Ireland, Sports Surgery Clinic, Carroll Cuisine, Learning Pool and McCauley Pharmacy Group. CCI previously invested in Lily O’Brien’s and General Secure Logistics Services (GSLS). During April 2019, CCI announced the sale of Payzone to a joint venture company established by AIB plc and First Data Corporation.
CCI’s investment in The City Bin Co. is subject to approval from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).
The City Bin Co. – New Sustainability Partner to Connacht Rugby
Connacht Rugby and The City Bin Co. are delighted to announce a three-year official partnership which will see The City Bin Co. take on the role of Sustainability Partner to Connacht Rugby.
The City Bin Co. has over two decades of experience in waste management and innovation and now brings this knowledge to an organization keen to place a greater emphasis on sustainability both on and off the field.
Announcing the new partnership, Head of Commercial and Marketing at Connacht Rugby Brian Mahony said: “This partnership is much more than a traditional partnership. We are committed to reducing the amount of single-use plastics and waste going into landfills and The City Bin Co.’s expertise in the field of sustainability is central to making this happen. Both Connacht Rugby and The City Bin Co. have their roots in the province and we see this as a natural partnership, to provide ongoing guidance and education not only to the team and supporters but also to the next generation of green ambassadors.”
Commenting on the exciting new partnership, Gene Browne, CEO, The City Bin Co. added: “We are excited to come on board with Connacht Rugby as Sustainability Partner for the next three years. Connacht Rugby has a long tradition and presence in local communities with a very devoted and growing fan base, but are also very aware of the legacy they want to create for the future, which is what makes the partnership such an excellent fit for us. Through various initiatives and activations, we will bring awareness in a way that is directly aligned with Connacht Rugby’s community-driven purpose.
We look forward to supporting the continued success of Connacht Rugby in the seasons ahead.”
Your old plastic bottle … reborn as a towel, bag or swimsuit
First, it was “bags for life”, chunky doormats and, more recently, clothing such as fleeces, swimwear, and pack-away macs. Now towels made from recycled plastic bottles are to go on sale in the UK for the first time in August – the latest initiative in the war against single-use plastics and the result of a technological breakthrough that has produced a fabric deemed soft and fluffy enough to use on human skin.
The new range of eco-friendly bath towels will go on sale online and at 18 branches of John Lewis in the last week of August, after nearly two years of extensive testing and work with suppliers. The polyester from the recycled plastic bottles accounts for 35% of their content, while the rest is regenerated cotton.
The bath towel is made from about 10 one-liter plastic bottles, and John Lewis says that the use of recycled rather than virgin cotton will save about five tonnes of fabric from going to landfill each year.
“It took 18 months to develop these towels with our supplier,” said Zoe Brady, John Lewis’s towel buyer. “Initially, it was hard to create the soft, luxurious feeling we wanted from recycled materials but we got there in the end. The recycled polyester makes these towels quick-drying, and the cotton means they’re highly absorbent, too.”
‘Skip Ahoy’ at Salthill Raft Race 2018
Well done to our team at the first Salthill Raft Race in aid of RNLI. ‘Skip Ahoy’ did us proud!
Eimhin Killilea & Sean Deveney were in charge of the build (which kept the sea out perfectly!) and Eimhin was joined by Louise Niemann, David O’Hanlon & Ray McDonnell as crew.
Despite being pipped for third place, ‘Skip Ahoy’ performed well for its first outing. Here’s to next year’s race!
365 Unpacked
Born in Lille in 1979, Antoine Repessé is a self-taught photographer. While working initially in public institutions, in 2012 he started freelancing. He joins the photo agency Lightmotiv where he produces for major press agencies including Le Monde, Elle, Marianne, L’Express, Géo, Causette. At the end of 2015 he leaves the agency to join the collective Views Co.
He embarked on personal projects around photojournalism inspired from socio-political issues. His travels from Lille to Romania, resulting in the production of “Bienvenue chez les Roms”, to India, and Mali with the NGO Acauped take him to further horizons.
His latest project, “365 Unpacked” is the result of all of the above. The questioning of a major society issue: the production of waste on a daily basis.
Bon Secours – Moving to Zero Waste
The Bon Secours Hospital, Dublin is a private hospital in Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland. Owned by the Roman Catholic Bon Secours Sisters, it offers healthcare to privately insured patients.
In 2014, The City Bin Co. won the opportunity to handle all non-hazardous waste. In working with the head of facilities, Thomas Leonard, we demonstrated cost savings from the start by introducing regular training sessions with the team. In late 2015 we looked at how to make more changes to improve the service while at the same time making savings.
We discussed the Zero Project and agreed that this could be completed if we took it to the catering division of the hospital. We started discussions with head Chef Harry Van Wegen and team manager Teresa Quinn. The project was simple…”How do we segregate the waste in the canteen/catering division in order to divert any potential general waste from landfill”.
We examined the process and met the team. There are 6 kitchens at the hospital. One main kitchen and five food holding areas. We noticed that even though meals were being ordered by patients early in the day they weren’t been eaten, because doctors were putting them on fast notices prior to operations. We recognised that about 100 meals a day in the form of breakfast, lunch, and tea were being wasted.
All of this food is now being saved and the spend on food has been lowered. The next stage of the process was to provide colour coded bins in the kitchen and to segregate the food from the recycling. We also used compost bags for this food waste and all of it now was going to the organic bin. All the recycling was going to the recycling bin and the general waste bin was redundant.
Today the hospital is wasting less food while serving the same amount of patients and diverting all of this catering waste from landfills.
If you would like more information on the Zero Project, please contact John Farrell, The City Bin Co.