| Episode Number |
Timescale |
Events |
Departures |
Viewing Figures |
| 1 |
Days 1-3 |
- On Day 1, the 11 participants met in a hotel near Gatwick Airport. They were initially told that they were participating in a television programme about man's effect on the environment. As they were all given vaccinations before the start of the programme, provided with "survival kits" and told to bring their passports, many of the group speculated that they will fly abroad from nearby Gatwick Airport. However, they were driven on a bus with tinted windows to a rubbish dump outside Croydon. The group were shocked, and presenter Rob Holdway told them that they were to use a shipping container to provide shelter for the first night only, and would then have to construct their own shelter from the waste products in the dump for use from Day 2 and onwards.
- The group continued to build their shelter on Day 2. Rob Holdway arrived at the site with a trailer filled with food. He said that the average British person threw away this amount of food in one year, and that the group had to live on this food for the remainder of the week.
- Day 3 saw the group visit the real landfill site, which is located next to the artificial dump that they were staying on.
|
Darren Lumsden asked to leave the dump, claiming that the experience was not worthwhile. |
2.4 million |
| 2 |
Days 4-7 |
- Day 4 saw the participants become scavengers, as they were able to sell waste products from the dump to Ray, a rag and bone man. Ian held a group meeting about rebuilding the shelter that was constructed on Day 2, and assigns roles to the others. Rob enters the camp to inform the participants that the chemical toilet will be removed from the camp, and that the group will have to make a composting version.
- The chemical toilets were removed on Day 5 and Lawrence designed the composting toilet. He held a meeting with the group and organised them into three teams, giving each team instructions on how to build a particular part of the toilet.
- Selena was the only person contributing to dump life on Day 6; she was collecting materials for Ray the scrap man's visit the next day. However, Jason was not working due to religious reasons, as it was Shabbat.
- Lawrence held another group meeting on Day 7, as the urinal that he designed was leaking and nobody had informed him. The issue of toilet hygiene was also raised, and this discussion escalates into an argument. Ray, the scrap man, visits the dump later in the day and buys some, but not all, of the waste that the group have collected. Overall, £45 was made.
|
N/A |
1.7 million |
| 3 |
Days 8-15 |
- Rob entered the dump on the morning of Day 8 to tell the participants that he would be staying with them for the next 24 hours. He took Selena, Jarvis and Sylvia on a trip around the dump to try to inspire them to improve the camp's appearance. Meanwhile, Sasha and Jermaine made a hot tub out of objects from the landfill and Jason celebrated his birthday.
- Rob leaves the camp on Day 9, telling the group that they could put more effort into improving the comfort and appearance of the landfill. Jason starts work on a solar-powered shower and unwanted plants are delivered to the dump, which the participants make a garden from.
- Lawrence and Ian took Rob's comments into consideration on Day 10 and set plans for improvements to the living space, which they decided to implement over the next three days. 1000 unwanted mobile phones were delivered to the site and the group constructed a cycle-powered generator to charge a battery for the phones so they could telephone home.
- On Day 11, Aaron and Sasha sorted through discarded textiles from the dump and Jason continued work on the shower.
- Day 12 saw Ray the rag and bone man return to the dump. He gave the group £82 for the objects that they had gathered; the group used this money to buy a wind turbine.
- Sasha took charge of the construction of the sauna on Day 13, while the group uses the wind turbine to power a refrigerator.
- Lawrence lead the group on the reconstruction of the shelter on Day 14. He planned the project, allocated the individual jobs and organised a rota for breaks.
- The group worked through the rain on Day 15 to construct their shelter. Aaron, Sasha and Sylvia lost their shower privileges as they overslept. An argument started in the camp between Jermaine and Selena, which resulted in producers having to enter the dump.
|
N/A |
1.5 million |
| 4 |
Days 16-21 |
- The group constructed the shelter's roof for most of Day 16 and Rob spoke to the participants about electronic waste.
- The group woke on Day 17 to find that their shelter was not watertight, as rain had come through the structure during the night, and they spent most of the day correcting this problem. Selena and Jermaine stirred the group's feces into the composter, adding worms which Rob had provided. Sasha opened the spa which she had constructed and the group nominated Aaron, Sasha, Jermain and Ian for a recycling challenge.
- Aaron, Sasha, Jermain and Ian woke at 5:30am on Day 18 to take part in a recycling challenge. They traveled on a waste collection vehicle, collecting rubbish from nearby homes. The rubbish that they collected was deposited in the dump, where the other participants joined them in sorting out what could be recycled. The group passed this task, and received a biodiesel generator as a reward.
- On Day 19, the group turned on their biodiesel generator and powered objects from the dump such as a lava lamp. The group made a £120 profit from selling objects to the rag and bone man. They decided to pay for the rental of An Inconvenient Truth to watch on the TV/DVD Player that they found, despite some members of the group wanting to watch Borat. The results of the carbon footprint questionnaires were revealed.
- The participants celebrated their final night on the dump with a party on Day 20.
- Day 21 saw the participants gather their belongings as they prepared to leave the landfill. Friends and family members arrived at the dump and were shown around by the participants.
|
The remaining 10 participants left the landfill, splitting the £20,000 prize money equally. |
1.9 million |