Terracycle’s in Farrington Gurney!
by Amber Chivers
Operating for 20 years Terracycle is a global company working in conjunction with individuals, organisations and manufacturers to offer recycling services for usually non-recyclable waste such as food and beauty product packaging, stationery and even cigarette butts. These are turned back into raw materials to make new, durable products and packaging. To date they have prevented over 57 million items from being incinerated or going to landfill.
In 2019 I set up a Terracycle drop off point for crisp packets at Farrington Gurney School. To date we have recycled 19kg (the equivalent of about 16,000 small crisp packets) and will be ready to send another 9kg off for recycling soon! I collect and store the packets until I have enough to meet the minimum weight criteria for Terracycle to collect. I then spend a good few hours, with the help of my 6 and 3 year old, flattening the packets out, removing unaccepted packaging (popcorn packets, chocolate wrappers etc) and packing as many as possible really tightly into large boxes. I then arrange for a courier to take those back to a specialist recycling facility where the packets are separated by plastic type, cleaned and processed into plastic pellets and sold back to manufacturers ready to create all manner of new products including furniture, watering cans, composite decking, playground surface covers and bins.
If you’d like to get involved and drop off your crisp packets for recycling then I am happy to receive them directly or they can be dropped to the Terracycle bin outside the reception area at school (within school hours). Please ensure the packets are accepted by the scheme as per the accepted waste poster, empty (I find all manner of things in packets - sometimes not very pleasant!) and ideally flat or folded rather than crumpled up.
As an added bonus the school receives a cash bonus for each shipment which is used to fund resources!
Solar Power
BANES is supporting a group purchasing programme with Solar Together. When you register, you specify the panels that you want installed. Then all the requirements are bundled together and verified installers bid for the work. After the auction, you get receive a personally recommendation and quote. Then it’s up to you to decide whether you want to commit to the quote. There’s no obligation to commit to anything until after the auction has taken place and you make your decision. The idea is that a larger bulk of work will lead to lower prices for consumers. Closing date: September 28 2021
Trees.
Trees absorb pollution – so they improve air quality – and they attract the birds and bugs that a healthy environment requires.
For that reason, BANES will be planting 12 more trees in the village. It’s expected that they will be planted in December: a Christmas present for the planet.
And there’s a treat in store if you attend the meeting in the Village Hall on November 12 at 8pm where students from the University of Bath will describe the project they will be doing in the village. Kath Wade has offered 12 tiny oak trees (currently just a foot tall) which she grew from acorns. These will be offered in a free raffle to anyone who might have a home for them.
In the neighborhood
From Jackie Head in East Harptree
The Chew Valley Area Forum is one of a number of B&NES groups which aim to bring people together across a region, in order to discuss what matters to them. As the name suggests this forum covers the breadth of the Chew Valley. In October 2020 the CVAF decided to set up a Climate & Nature Emergency Working Group that would enable Parishes across the area to benefit from the diversity, creativity and lobbying power that this critical mass would bring.
Eleven months on, 11 parishes are actively engaged and we have been working in subgroups to tackle some of the big issues, with an overall aim to reduce the carbon footprint of the Chew Valley. B&NES have been very supportive of the project and we have benefitted from a current wave of interest in carbon reduction at national and local government level. There is only so much one village or Parish can do, but bring them together and you feel the rich benefit.
As we go forward you will probably hear more and more about the snowball-to-avalanche effect of the group. At the moment what is in the ascendent is the outcomes of a cross-valley Sustainable Transport survey which essentially asked ‘what would it take to change your habits to lower carbon options’ and which gathered data to show a snapshot of now and a vision of the future that people would buy into.
BBC Radio Bristol gave it a good airing in August and helped oil the wheels for future meetings with B&NES & the West of England Combined Authority (WECA).
You can read all about it in the report (available on request) and here is a graphic executive summary.
If you would be interested in representing Farrington Gurney on the CVAG, please email green.farrington@gmail.com
