This policy explains how Rubbish Rebels handles personal information when you use the website. It covers what is collected, why it is collected, how long it is kept, and the choices you have.
Written for readers of our low waste home guide and zero waste starter kit pages. Applies to every page on this site.
It applies to the pages on this website and to messages sent through the contact form. The site is operated by Rubbish Rebels, a UK-based guide site.
Contact details for privacy questions are given at the end of this page. We keep the policy in plain English, and where a term has a specific meaning under UK data protection law we explain it at first use rather than leaving it unexplained. The same applies to the practical detail of our zero waste living and upcycling content: what we hold, why, and for how long.
Form messages and limited technical logs
We collect the information you provide when you use the contact form: your name if you give one, your email address if you give one, and the content of your message. If you choose to send the message without giving an email address, we receive the message content only.
We also collect limited technical information automatically when you visit the site, such as the pages you request, the type of device or browser, and the general location derived from your IP address. This is used to keep the site working and to understand which pages are useful, in aggregate.
We do not ask for a postal address, a phone number, or an account, and reading a guide such as our how to reduce household waste walkthrough does not require you to send us anything at all. Browsing the site is not tracked back to a named person.
Two points worth stating plainly. First, the contact form is the same route whether you are asking a privacy question or suggesting a topic for our zero waste tips for beginners series, so the information collected is identical. Second, technical records are kept in aggregate: we look at which pages get read and whether the site is reachable, not at what any one visitor did.
Read in one pass, top to bottom
Your message sitting unread in a shared inbox.
A reply to your question or suggestion, and a decision on whether the topic becomes a guide on the site.
Reply first
Your address added to a marketing list.
Nothing. We do not use your message for marketing and we do not add you to any mailing list.
No list
Profiles built from who reads what.
Security, troubleshooting, and a count of which parts of the site are being read.
Aggregate only
That third row is the one people usually want spelled out. Technical information is not used to identify individual visitors. We look at totals and patterns: how many people opened the composting food scraps at home page this week, whether the site loaded slowly on mobile, whether a broken link was hit. Those totals do not tell us who you are, and we do not try to work it out by combining them with anything else.
If you send a message that suggests a guide we do not yet have, that suggestion may shape what gets written next. Where an idea becomes a published page, the article stands on its own; your message is not published and is not credited unless you have asked us to.
Why we are allowed to hold it
Where UK data protection law applies, we process the information you send through the contact form based on your consent, given when you choose to send the message. You are never obliged to send anything, and you can withdraw that consent at any time, which means we stop holding the message.
We process limited technical information based on our legitimate interest in keeping the site functioning and secure. In practice that means keeping the site online, spotting abuse, and understanding how many people are reading which guides so we can decide what to update next.
If you have questions about the legal basis for a specific processing activity, use the contact details at the end of this page. Mention the activity you are asking about, such as a message you sent or a technical record, and we will explain how the basis applies in that case rather than repeating this section back to you.
Two clocks, two deletion rules
Contact form messages, counted from the last reply in the thread
24months
Server logs and similar technical records, set by our hosting provider
12months
Messages deleted on request, ahead of the standard period
On request
Messages sent through the contact form are kept for up to 24 months after the last reply, so that we can refer back to a conversation if a reader follows up. After that period, or sooner on request, they are deleted.
Technical information such as server logs is kept for a shorter period, typically up to 12 months, depending on our hosting provider's configuration. Logs roll off automatically; they are not archived to a separate store before deletion.
If you ask us to delete a message before the 24 months are up, we do it and we confirm when it is done. Deletion covers the message as received; it does not reach back into any reply you already have.
We do not sell personal information. We do not share it with third parties for marketing. We may share limited information with service providers who help us run the site, for example hosting or email delivery, and only to the extent needed for that service.
Those providers act on our instructions. If you send a message and it is delivered through an email service, the message passes through that service in the ordinary way. We choose providers that offer a data processing agreement, and we do not pass on more than the service needs to work.
We may disclose information if required to do so by law, or in response to a valid legal request from a UK authority. If a request arrives, we check that it is valid before responding, and we disclose only what the request actually covers.
The same room the site is written from. Nothing here identifies a reader.
Usually answered within one month
Under UK data protection law you have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you, to ask for corrections, to ask for deletion, and to object to certain uses. If you have given consent, you can withdraw it at any time. To make a request, use the contact details below.
Ask what we hold about you and receive a copy. If you have only ever sent one message, that message is the whole of it.
If a name or address was typed wrongly, tell us and we will correct the record rather than start again.
Ask us to delete a message and we remove it well before the 24 month period is due to end.
Object to a particular use, or take back the consent you gave when you sent a message, and we stop that use.
Send it through the contact form on the Contact page and put Privacy in the subject so it is routed quickly. Tell us what you want, and give enough detail for us to find the record, such as the email address you used or roughly when you wrote to us. You do not need to explain why you are asking.
We will respond within the time limits set by law, usually within one month. If a request is complicated, or if you have sent several at once, we may need longer, and we will tell you why rather than leaving you waiting without an answer.
No. If you originally wrote to us without a name and without an email address, we hold the message content only, and a request can be made the same way. We will do what we can to match the request to the message, and we will say so if we cannot.
Three short sections
The site may use cookies and similar technologies as described in the Cookie Policy. You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings. Blocking some cookies may affect site functionality.
In practice the practical effect of blocking them is small: guides such as our zero waste starter kit and the plastic free alternatives pages are readable with cookies turned off, and no part of the site requires you to accept anything in order to read it.
Cookie PolicyThe site is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, contact us and we will remove it.
We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the date at the top of this page. Significant changes will be described on the page itself, not only in the footer.
Last reviewed on 21 September 2026. If a future edit changes how long we keep messages, or adds a new service provider, that edit will be noted here in a sentence you can read without comparing two versions side by side.
For any privacy question or request, use the contact form on the Contact page of this site. Include Privacy in the subject so it is routed quickly. We cannot take privacy requests by phone.
Write to us
Rubbish Rebels
42 Greenfield Lane, Bristol, BS5 6TY, United Kingdom
Email and hours
[email protected]
Mon to Fri 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM · Sat 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Our published phone number is +44 117 496 0283, but it is for general enquiries only. Privacy requests are handled in writing so there is a clear record of what was asked and when it was answered.
None of these pages collect personal information beyond the contact form described above. They are listed here so you can carry on reading without hunting through the navigation.
