Recycling

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Surfers Against Sewage mounts campaign to reduce plastic waste

Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) has launched a campaign, called Message in a Bottle, to encourage the introduction of deposit-return systems for single-use plastic bottles in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The campaign aims to educate the public, and via a survey and social media actions, show public support for the system, under which a small deposit of between 10–20p would be added to the purchase price of drinks containers.

Consumers would be provided with opportunities to easily reclaim their deposit when they dispose of the product at collection points. Continue reading →

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Screening of ‘Plastic Planet’ in Ham on 24 March

Green Screen will host a screening of ‘Plastic Planet’ on 24 March at 7.15pm at the Ham Library community space.

The film, by Austrian film director and writer Werner Boote, presents Boote’s personal view of plastic and how it has found its way into every facet of our daily lives. He takes us on a journey around the globe, showing that plastics have become a threat for both environment and human health.

Doors open at 7pm, and film starts at 7.15pm at the Ham Library community space, Ham Street, Richmond TW10 7JG.

Entrance is free, but there is a suggest donation of £ 3 to cover costs. Light refreshments will be on offer.

To get to the library, take bus 371 from Kingston or Richmond to Ashburnham Rd.
Or take the 65 bus to Ham Common and walk down Ham Street towards Ham Library, a journey of about 5-10 minutes.

 

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Let’s swish again … at Hounslow Library

Bored of what’s hanging in your closet? Then gather up those garments lurking at the back of your wardrobe and bring them to Hounslow Library on Saturday, 12 March, for the Hounslow Library Swish (clothing exchange).
Bring up to 10 items of clothing you no longer want to swap. Clothes must be clean and in good condition.
Drop-off is from 11am to 12 noon, when you’ll receive a token for each item of clothing you bring.
The Swish opens at 12.30pm, and then it’s time to shop. Browse the rails and use your tokens to take away a fabulous new outfit (one garment per token).
To find out more about swishing, visit the Get Swishing website.

Those details again:
Venue: Hounslow Library
Date:   Saturday, 12 March 2016
Time:  Clothing drop-off: 11am-12pm
Swish: 12.30pm-2pm
Admission: Free

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£500 Available to Schools for Recycling

West London Waste are working with Wastebuster (inspiring pupils) to give all schools in west Lon10982-print1617 - Blue telephone - Print Version_ 300ppidon the chance to win £500 to spend in the Wastebuster Exchange Store on school equipment, plus £100 to give to a charity of their choice.

To enter all a school needs to do is have a collection of broken and unwanted small electrical equipment during Recycle Week (22 – 28 June 2015). The school that collects the most by weight per pupil will win the prize.

To ask a question or to enter, simply book your FREE collection today.

See full details.

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Waste not, want not: how the rubbish industry learned to look beyond landfill

A yellow monster truck pushes mounds of rubbish across the summit of Britain’s biggest waste mountain. The 50-tonne beast has huge, spiked, steel wheels that grind mattresses, plastic bottles, trainers and traffic cones into the mud of the manmade peak.

This strange landscape is Packington landfill, near Birmingham. And this week Sita UK, which owns and operates the site, closed its gates for the final time. A boom in recycling, coupled with the 1996 landfill tax have slowly choked the life out of the refuse disposal sector. The charge of £80 a tonne will rise again to £82.60 from April, forcing the industry to deal with its waste in different ways.

Read on at The Guardian website…

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Swish your way into a new wardrobe this Saturday at Twickenham Library

Does your wardrobe need an update? Come to the West London Waste swishing (clothes swap) event this Saturday, February 21, at Twickenham Library, and walk away with a new look. At the same time bid farewell to clothing you no longer wear, and send them on their way to a new home.

You can bring up to 10 items of clean clothing (in good condition, please) to the event to exchange for tokens (a maximum of 10). The tokens can be traded for items of clothing others have brought. Continue reading →

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French FoE shows consumers how to fight planned obsolescence

Calling all French speakers! Amis de la Terre (Friends of the Earth France) has launched a consumer guide to avoiding planned obsolescence in everyday products. Called Comment sortir de l’obsolescence programmée?*, the guide offers tried-and-tested advice, including to avoid throw-away products, buy simply produced goods (so there are fewer parts to go wrong), purchase reparable and good-quality products, and take part in borrowing-and-lending schemes such as Streetbank (see earlier BRAGonline article). Continue reading →