SkipsForYou and AcornWaste Can Help You Move House

Moving house can be very stressful, and can put a lot of pressure on the family unit, especially if you have children. Children can get incredibly upset by moving, and even grieve - for their old friends, for the secure networks they might have built up at school with teachers and peers. We offer some signs to watch out for below and also tips on how to ensure your children feel involved with the move, and so more in control of what is happening.

SkipsForYou and AcornWaste can help with some of this stress, by arranging for a skip for you to deal with unwanted stuff, or rubbish, before you move. There is no point in paying to move junk that will end up just taking up space at the new house. Make a fresh start and sort out rubbish before you leave, and also feel good about the reduced carbon emissions as a result of not moving rubbish from one location to another! It doesn’t matter which UK area you are moving from or to, we can deliver a skip anywhere. If you think you might need more help, we can also deliver a man with a van, skip bags, help with house clearance, portakabin hire, and even deal with your confidential data destruction.

We can help you with your house move through thorough preparation and also use of check-lists.

Moving House and Stress:
Moving house has ramifications for all the family. However, while adults may feel more in control as they re involved in decision-making, and focusing on practical issues, children can get caught up in feelings of loss and grief. Children can feel powerless, as they are having their friends and known environment taken away from them.

Signs of Stress in Children:
Not all children will be upset – some may enjoy the move hugely and be full of excitement. However signs to watch out for are in younger children: thumb-sucking, bed wetting, regression – going back to talking baby talk for example, and clinginess (just what you need when you’re dashing round!)

Older children may show signs of loss of appetite, insomnia, hair twirling, shyness or aggression. You might also see changed sleeping patterns, problems with concentration, stomach aches or headaches. If your child’s personality seems to change, this could be down to the stress of the move.

Don’t forget that some of these symptoms might just show that your child is adjusting – and that they will naturally get over it, once they’ve had a settling-in period. Make sure that your children get plenty of healthy food, rest and some chance to stretch their legs, if you are very busy with the move. Don’t forget that stress is great for viruses, so try to keep calm, and keep your immunity up. Look into local sitting services; you can always have someone entertain your child , and very importantly to talk to and listen to them, in a quiet calm area, while you get on with packing and unpacking. And, even if you do manage to get help with the children, do also try to spend some time with them yourself - listen to their fears and concerns and point out the positive aspects of the move to them.

Make your move less stressful:
Make sure you talk to your children well ahead of the move so they have plenty of time to adjust. Help them to decide on things like colours to decorate with, perhaps an area of the garden that might be theirs - if you have no garden, talk about how they can help you ot grow herbs in pots for the kitchen windowsill. Small children can perhaps be easiest to move - they depend more on just being with you for their security, so as long as you're around, this should help them. Tell them stories about other children who are moving. It can be a good idea to take items like their bed with you, or at least check that they sleep in the same bedding. This way the transition will be more gradual.

School-age children can get very upset about moving away from friends. It is difficult to decide whether to move in term-time or in the holidays. Holidays give the child time to adjust- but not the same opportunity to make friends as if they were at school. Do your best to find parents' groups in the community that will give your child a chance to meet other children.

Teenagers may be very upset by moving. Listen to them and treat what they have to say with respect (if it's reasonable.) If the move means losing a girl or boy friend this can be terrible for them - imagine how you would feel. It can be easy to dismiss these feelings in a young adult, but they are very keenly felt, despite your teenager just setting out with these emotions. If you can arrange visits back to see old friends this might help. Try to compromise and most of all let your teenager know that you share their concerns and are doing your best to understand.

Sort out your children's room or rooms first - this gives them a secure base and their own territory. Try to stick to normal mealtimes and bedtimes. Be patient but firm with difficult behaviour. Use reward charts for good behaviour if this is appropriate. Expect your child to take at least 6 weeks to 'settle-in' and expect some slightly erratic behaviour during this time. If the erratic behaviour continues past this time, then it might be worth a visit to the doctor or to think about counselling, especially with any of the following: headache, stomachache, depression solitude, apathy, lower marks at school, and anti-social behaviour such as lying, or stealing.

However, do also remember that humans are designed to be able to cope with stress and that most of us do pull through. This can be a positive time where you can find out a lot about both yourself and your children. And don't forget to call Skipsforyou for help if you want more advice, or Acornwaste for commercial help.

Tracking Your Trash - Big Brother Waste Monitoring

Huge amounts of waste are to be tracked using electronic surveillance methods. Volunteers are to donate 3,000 pieces of rubbish, which will be tagged, initially in Seattle and New York. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology project, called Trash Track, has been designed with the aim of helping people to focus on what happens to their waste when they dispose of it.

Professor Carlo Ratti, head of MIT SENSEable City Lab, said, "Trash is one of today's most pressing issues - both directly and as a reflection of our attitudes and behaviours. Our project aims to reveal the disposal process of our everyday objects, as well as to highlight potential inefficiencies in today's recycling and sanitation systems. The project could be considered the urban equivalent of nuclear medicine - when a tracer is injected and followed through the human body."

Assaf Biderman, associate director of the lab, said, "The study of what we could call the 'removal chain' is becoming as important as that of the supply chain. Trash Track aims to make the removal chain more transparent. We hope that the project will promote behavioural change and encourage people to make more sustainable decisions about what they consume and how it affects the world around them."

Friends of the Earth's Senior Waste Campaigner Michael Warhurst has said that this could be a "useful tool" for highlighting the impact of rubbish.
"[Waste] doesn't simply disappear when we throw it away, and all too often it ends up causing damage when it could be recycled instead. People must have much better information on - and control over - where their rubbish and recycling ends up."

In order to monitor how the pieces of rubbish move around the cities and beyond, the MIT team has developed a small mobile sensor, based on cheap and easy mobile phone functionality encased in resin, that can be attached to individual pieces of waste.The location of these pieces of waste and the journey that they go on, is transmitted to a central server. The journey is then shown on a map in real time. Eventually the team will ensure that the waste is disposed of responsibly, and the tags re-used.

A lot of green campaigners are glossing over the transition from tagging to tracking - but of course the reality behind such a project, is that not only our private lives are now under surveillance, but also, our rubbish. Although such a project is theoretically fascinating, in reality, it has rather a Big Brotherish feel to it. "Think about a future where thanks to smart tags we will not have waste anymore," said Mr Ratti. "Everything will be traceable."

Acorn Waste and Skips For You owners, Paul and Karen Cairns are not sure just how Mr Ratti proposes that smart tags will get rid of waste - other than by punishing those who generate it - ie you or me. If, in the meantime you are interested in getting rid of waste responsibly, SkipsForYou tries to ensure that as much waste as possible gets recycled in the skips that they hire out.

Do Global Warming Stories Go Too Far?

Is news about global warming doing more harm than good? The news media loves nothing better than a story with fear factor, and global warming contains many of the objects necessary to make a good horror story. There is a vague unspecified danger, that could result in floods, freak weather, death, destruction and annihilation. The trouble is though, that with the models that are used to show what might happen with say, a sea-level rise of x feet, quite often the rationalist is not on hand to say, ' but we don't actually know that we will see a rise in sea-levels of x feet.'

Al Gore, who does some great work on climate change, has shown how a sea-level rise of 20 feet would flood Florida, New York, Holland, Bangladesh, and Shanghai, even though there is no real hard evidence that such rises would occur. However, the end result is increased anxiety, apathy and nihilism among young people. Many very young children, and teenagers are actually frightened that they are going to die, or lose their friends and family, as a result of assimilating so-called 'facts' like these.

54% of American voters believe the news media exaggerate claims about global warming. Many now believe – incorrectly – that global warming is not even caused by humans. In the United Kingdom, 40% believe that global warming is exaggerated and 60% doubt that it is man-made.

Psychologists are seeing more anxiety in people concerned about climate change. An article in the Washington Post cited nine-year-old Alyssa, who cried when her mother bought a t-shirt showing a tree-frog, saying 'extinction is forever."

"I don't like global warming because it kills animals, and I like animals. I worry about it because I don't want to die."

Another nine-year old showed the Washington Post his drawing of a global warming timeline. "That's the Earth now. And then it's just starting to fade away. In 20 years, there's no oxygen." Then, to underline his point, he collapses to the floor.

Another survey of 500 American pre-teens found that one in three children believe that they don't have a future because of global warming stories, while in the United Kingdom another survey,of 1,150 youngsters (carried out by Somerfield) showed that half of young children aged between seven and 11 are anxious about the effects of global warming.

It's time to step back - yes, let's focus on recycling, and do our best for the environment, but without the threat of extinction hanging over our heads if we fail to separate out our plastics from our glass. And, don't forget that if you do have a lot of rubbish to throw out, order a skip from www.skipsforyou.co.uk or www.acornwaste.co.uk if you want something commercial, and a lot of this worry is taken off your hands. Paul Cairns, the business owner, ensures that as much is recycled as possible. So you can concentate on sorting out the science from the speculation while skipsfoyou sorts your waste.