TRC strive for an environment where all communities in Bristol, and across the UK, are recycling, reusing and reducing their waste

A singing, dancing robot called Cycler is coming to schools across Bristol to inspire children to learn about how to reduce, re-use and recycle rubbish.  From 17th July, for a week, Cycler will work with The Recycling Consortium’s (TRC’s) Education Project to teach pupils all over the city about the Council’s new waste and recycling collection services.

Cycler’s timing for his visits to nine Bristol schools is perfect, coinciding with the Council’s introduction of new recycling collections for food, green waste and cardboard over the summer.

Everybody’s looking forward to Cycler’s visit with great enthusiasm.  Pupils from Sea Mills Junior School who were told about his visit responded with excitement: Hayden Cole, aged 9, said “Cool, I wonder if he eats stuff?” “ It’ll be amazing when he comes!”, said Alex Dymond aged 8, and Dylan Clarke aged 9 said “I’m really looking forward to finding out about what else I can recycle.” Pupils from St Teresa’s Primary School were equally excited; “I would like Cycler to come because he looks funny and he will dance and he’s made out of recycling stuff” said Anne Comer in Year 4, and Corey Morgan said “I am looking forward to seeing Cycler because he’s been on Blue Peter and he sings raps”.

With Cycler’s help, Helen Peake, TRC’s Education Officer for Bristol, will be teaching pupils a new “Box it, Bucket, Bin it” song to help them learn about Bristol’s new collection services.  She said “Children love seeing Cycler in action and singing along with him.  Cycler’s humorous rap is a great way raising children’s awareness of the importance of caring for our environment.  After the performances I see children excitedly telling their parents what they have learnt, which encourages the whole family to participate fully in the recycling services.”

For the 10th anniversary of Real Nappy Week (24-30 April 2006) The Recycling Consortium’s Real Nappy Project joined forces with the Natural Nursery to create a ‘Mountain of Nappy Waste’ on North Street Green just off North Street in Southville, Bristol.  The public were invited to come along to view the amount of waste just one baby in disposable nappies can create from birth to potty training.  130 bin bags stuffed with straw – 1 for every week a baby is in disposable nappies over a 2 and a half year period (the average time it takes to potty train a baby).  There was information available on how to use real nappies and details on applying for a £30.00 money off voucher which can be used on purchases of real nappies worth £50.00 or more.

Increased Campaign Capacity for The Recycling Consortium

A successful new appointment has allowed TRC to separate its individual work streams and to develop an even stronger portfolio.  Canvassing and monitoring projects, will now become the sole responsibility of a leading light in recycling canvassing; Ralph Openshaw.

Ralph’s interesting career has led him to develop an expertise in project management, data collection projects and partnership building.  An interest in the environment led him to move from his small building company to set up an environmental centred language school.  Then head-hunted by Cornwall Friends of the Earth to become their environmental campaigner, he helped set up Cornwall Waste Action. With CWA he developed a full-scale, county-wide 120,000 household project in 2005.  A high contact rate of 50% from this project received national acclaim and interest in the development of similar projects for other authorities.

“I aim to retain TRC’s formidable position in providing data collection, monitoring and canvassing for Local Authorities and community organisations,” said Ralph.  “I also wish to develop the innovative work that TRC is so good at.  The Waste Doctor campaign, in partnership with Bristol City Council, supported big changes in the collection of residual waste by dealing with customer concerns within their homes; I see this type of work becoming more vital as Local Authorities look to reach stringent targets.”

During his time with Cornwall Waste Action, he was pivotal in developing the important Recycle for Cornwall Campaign, in partnership with Resolve Kernow and all Cornish Local Authorities.  The experience helped to secure his expertise in forming and working with partnership groups, something he wants to develop whilst working within TRC.  He was also able to offer support to community groups wishing to instigate waste reduction projects and with the writing of funding bids to make them possible.

Ralph is keen to use his expertise to help Local Authorities who wish to develop their own doorstep and data collection campaigns, and to offer to organisations who require it, bid writing assistance for WRAP funded projects.  Contact him on 0117 9304 355 for more information.

A county-wide Swap Shop event, run by The Recycling Consortium’s (TRC) Community Action Groups (CAGs) in Oxfordshire successfully diverted over 1500kg of rubbish from landfill. The wide geographical spread of the event, held in March, made it the first of its kind in the country.  Its success has inspired others across Britain to take similar action to support the concept of reuse.

Fifteen communities eager to re-use items that would otherwise have ended up in landfill ran “Swap Shops” in community halls and on local streets. Members of the public across Oxfordshire were encouraged to either take items to participating venues or to place them outside their homes, and to pick up anything they wanted for free. Items intended for swapping were marked with a green balloon marked with the specifically created Reuse Swap Shop brand

Moira Dorey, TRC’s CAG Co-ordinator, said: “We had a fantastic turnout for the event. We estimate that over 750 people turned up to the events held in halls, although it is difficult to know how many people swapped items from street events. The feedback has been tremendous, people are obviously keen to reduce waste and re-use items, when given the opportunity.”

The Swap Shops, also supported by Oxfordshire County Council, took place in Buscot, Charlbury, Coleshill, Didcot, Faringdon, Finstock, Wantage, Wallingford, Wheatley, Witney and Wolvercote and in Oxford at Barracks Lane, Polstead Road, Sunnymead and Waterways.

CAG organisers are happy to share information on regional Swap Shops.  To find out more about this or about Community Action Group activities contact Kate Thomas on 0117 9304355 or kate.thomas@resourcefutures.co.uk or visit www.recyclingconsortium.org.uk and click on the CAG link.

An animated film, funded by South Gloucestershire Environmental Body using old Landfill Tax money, has been produced by the TRC education team. It has been received very well by local schools. A flyer sent to 110 South Gloucestershire schools stimulated 60 schools to request copies of the DVD. The five minute film will also be shown at the South Gloucestershire Waste Forum.

North Somerset recycling officers saw the film and were so impressed that they wanted one too! As a result the TRC education team are working hard to get a North Somerset version. Examples of materials collected for recycling in North Somerset have been sourced to create a new Dan Recycling Man character to suit the location.

Local Councils in Partnership to Recycle More
Four local authorities have joined together to run a significant pilot incentive project.   Pledges Win Prizes, which is funded by The Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), aims to discover the best ways to  of encouraging recycling.  The project, which will run until March 2006, will take place in selected areas around across the region from October 2005.

DEFRA have awarded Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire councils funding in order to run the project, the results of which could influence the future of recycling in the area.

Across the region householders in specific pilot areas will be visited by Recycling Advisors, who will offer them the chance to pledge to recycle using their local recycling service.  Those who make a pledge to recycle regularly will be eligible for a regular prize draw of £50, with over 40 winners every month across the four authority areas.

Pledges Win Prizes is open also open to households with a kerbside collection service and to those residentsin flats who use mini recycling centres. Each month the winners who have made a pledge to recycle will be randomly chosen from the block of flats with the highest use of the mini recycling centre during that period.

“The funding from DEFRA has given us a fantastic opportunity to find the answer to an important question – ‘do pledges and incentive projects help recycling residents to recycle more?’,“ said Sarah Raban from Bath and North East Somerset Council.  “If this project is a success, and is found to increase recycling, then the Pledges Win Prizes project could be offered to many more residents in the region.”

In most areas the winning prizes will be offered as a cash prize, however, in South Gloucestershire, residents will be asked to nominate their favourite British charity, which will then receive the award. 

A joint intiative of:

Bath & North East Somerset Council
Action Line 01225 39 40 41
actionline@bathnes.gov.uk
www.bathnes.gov.uk/wasteservices

Bristol City Council
Recycling Helpline 0117 922 3838
recycling@bristol-city.gov.uk
www.bristol.gov.uk/recycling

North Somerset Council
Recycling Helpline 01934 88 88 02
rethinkrubbish@n-somerset.gov.uk
www.n-somerset.gov.uk/environment

South Gloucestershire Council
Streetcare Helpdesk 01454 86 80 00
streetcare@southglos.gov.uk
www.southglos.gov.uk/wasteservices

The Recycling Consortium
Pledges Win Prizes 0117 929 7283
pledges@resourcefutures.co.uk
Working in conjunction with DEFRA

Thousands of children in schools across South Gloucestershire will be given a lesson this week by a singing and dancing android!  Cycler, the rapping robot, is calling in on nine schools in the district.  He aims to teach over two thousand primary school children about how they can care for their environment by reducing, reusing and recycling waste.

Cycler is a state of the art robot who has been created by Waste Watch, a national organisation which promotes and encourages action on the 3Rs.  He is coming to South Gloucestershire to support the Schools SORT IT!* Education Project . He is made from items of rubbish, such as used plastic bottles and cans.  He dances, raps and chats to children about waste related issues. 

“Cycler really captures the attention of the children and tells them what they can do to help stop waste going to landfill.  He brings to life important messages about waste and he reflects what SORT IT!* is all about,” said Mary Lewis, Education Officer from The Recycling Consortium, who runs the SORT IT!* Education project.  “After a visit from Cycler, the pupils are aware of the importance of reducing waste and reusing things.  They also find out how to use their SORT IT!* green bins and boxes for recycling as many items as possible.”

Every household in the UK throws away over one tonne of waste every year.  About three quarters of this could be reused or recycled which would stop the waste of these valuable resources. “Cycler raps and talks to the children about ways of stopping wastefulness,” said Mary. “They quickly learn his song and soon join in – it’s a message they really enjoy taking home!”

An elephant has been trumpeting the message “never forget to recycle” and has earned a name for himself in the process!  A competition was launched when a recycling roadshow went on tour to a Community Festival in Hartcliffe, and the star of the show was an elephant made from recycled drinks cans. 

Whilst parents talked to recycling advisors called “Waste Doctors” about how to separate their waste from their recyclables using Bristol’s kerbside service, children were able to enter the competition to give the aluminium elephant a good name.  Georgia Young, aged 6, won a bag of prizes today for naming the elephant Heffalump. 

The elephant is part of a city-wide project which was introduced in June when there were important changes to refuse and recycling services introduced by Bristol City Council.  Many local residents have been requesting help and advice to get to grips with the new systems.   A team of people called Waste Doctors, managed by The Recycling Consortium on behalf of Bristol City Council, have been helping Bristol residents to recycle, compost and reduce their waste.     “You may see Waste Doctors with the Heffalump out and about at roadshows and at public events.  They are there to answer questions and give advice about what people can do to help reduce Britains waste mountain.  Waste Doctors have also been giving hundreds of residents advice on the phone or through home visits," said Dr Mo McManus, co-ordinator of the Waste Doctor project from The Recycling Consortium.  “The project has been hugely successful because people in Bristol are now recycling more than ever before,” she said.

“The newly named elephant has been attracting a great deal of attention.  Not only does he highlight aluminium as one of the items that you can recycle through the Black Box service, but he also has created a wonderful recycling mascot that children and adults love,” said Mo.  So watch out for the Heffalump, as his trunk is packed full of useful advice to help increase recycling in Bristol.

Anyone wanting to talk to a Waste Doctor or to find out more about recycling their rubbish in Bristol should contact Bristol City Council on 0117 9223838.

Pupils from St Anne's Park Primary School have enjoyed an enrichment week focusing on 'Caring for our Planet.' A key feature of the week was workshops run by Helen Peake, Education Officer with The Recycling Consortium (TRC), encouraging the children to REDUCE, REUSE and RECYCLE their waste.    All 130 pupils, ranging from the age of 3 to 11, participated in one of TRC's fun curriculum-linked lessons.  Younger pupils wiggled around the hall, pretending to be minibeasts living in the compost bin and acted out the process of a steel can being recycled.  Older classes made instruments out of waste materials and their own recycled paper, as well as investigating the compost bin habitat.  Deputy Headteacher, Keith Ford, said it had been a great week.  "The children have had an inspirational and highly stimulating opportunity to explore rubbish and waste.  From 'Scrapman' to planters, junk modelling to minibeast hunts in the compost bin.  An educational and fun time has been had by all."   Some pupils were so inspired by the week that they decided to write their own newspaper article.  The following was written by Y5 children from Mr Ford's class:  

It’s been a very hot week at Bristol, everyone has their cropped trousers and sun hats on.  But at St Anne’s Park School it’s been cool!  Helen came to work with us, and she’s an expert on recycling, reusing and reducing.  At first I thought “that’s a little weird” but she made St Anne’s Park have a great time!  She taught us how to make instruments out of rubbish, and we’ve learnt about compost bins where you stick your fruit and vegetables in and the bugs eat it and the food changes into soil.  My little sister had a brilliant time pretending to be a can, being squashed and melted and recycled.  She keeps doing it at home, and now she’s nagging my mum about recycling all the time! 

The ways to recycle are endless and recycling could change the future!  It could save more and more parts of land, instead of filling them with rubbish.  If you’re recycling, you’re caring for our planet! The things you should recycle is newspaper, magazines, cans, glass bottles, jars, foil, clothes, shoes, glasses, car batteries and normal batteries, and last, engine oil.  And don’t forget reusing – most of the things we think are rubbish can still be used.  Like in Helen’s black box song  you should ‘ Think before you bin!’

By Lauren Delazzari,Sadu Sofieddine, Shannon Francis, Stewart Mockridge, Ashley Gibbs,Jonathan Smith
Funding from SITA Environmental Trust supports TRC’s education programme.

Good news for parents who want to save money.  Bristol City Council have, this month, launched a pledge to give £30 to all parents who switch to using washable nappies.

More and more parents are changing to use real nappies.  The main reason is that they can save more than £600 for the first baby alone; and as the family grows, so do the savings.  “Parents can already save a lot of money if they use washable nappies as opposed to disposables,” said Dr Mo McManus, Real Nappy Project Development Officer, “However, the decision to use them may still seem a bit daunting for some.  Bristol City Council’s offer of £30 off the cost for first time users of a nappy laundry service or buying real nappies is a great incentive to help them make the switch.”

“Bristol City Council are deeply serious about this issue, which is why we have committed to making this significant investment. We are very keen to help parents cut down on the amount of rubbish produced through the use of disposable nappies,” said Sean Spencer-Wort, the Recycling Officer from Bristol City Council.  “For parents with babies in nappies, disposables can make up to half of the waste in their wheelie bin.  It costs a great deal of money to send waste to landfill, so by encouraging the use of real washable nappies we are reducing waste as well as cutting the costs to us and the tax payers.”

“Real nappies are easier to use than I thought they’d be,” said Colin Griffin, a parent of two children in nappies.  “There is no need to fold bits of towelling or to use a big pin, because washable nappies come with poppers or Velcro tabs.  Even I can handle that!”

To apply for this incentive scheme, please click on this link. For more information on real nappies in general or details of help available locally, contact Martin Pearse on 0117 930 4355 or email Martin Pearse

For more information about the Real Nappy Project click on this link.
For more information about how to use and buy washable nappies, click here.

Pupils from schools across Bristol are compost creatures, according to The Recycling Consortium!  In a lively new workshop led by TRC Education Officers, children are pretending to be wriggling worms and creepy centipedes in order to imagine what life is like inside a compost bin! 

Four and five year olds have been learning how worms, woodlice and other creepy crawlies are fantastic recyclers, munching their way through the school’s fruit waste to make compost.  These sessions, which link closely with classroom science topics, are part of school-wide projects on the importance of Reducing, Reusing and Recycling waste.

Helen Peake, TRC Education Officer, said, ”What strikes me about these sessions is how the children change their attitude to creepy crawlies.  At first they think the creatures are horrible and by the end of the sessions they are calling them ‘little friendly recyclers’.  This shows how they are learning to care for their environment and are linking this with the importance of recycling.”

Funding from SITA Environmental Trust supports TRC’s education programme..

South Gloucestershire Council and the Real Nappy Project are working together to offer you £30.00 off the initial cost of using real nappies for your baby. At the moment the scheme is limited by budget so will be available on a first come first serve basis. We hope, however, that more money will become available in the future.

Several criteria will apply:

• You must be a resident of South Gloucestershire.
• Your baby must be less than 12 months old.
• You must buy at least £50.00 worth of real nappies at one time, or sign up to a nappy laundry service for at least 3 months, and £30.00 will be deducted at source.
• The incentive will only apply to the retailers and laundries on the list that will be sent to you when you apply to the scheme.

If you fulfil all these criteria and would like to apply for the incentive, please click on this link.

Find out everything you ever wanted to know about washable
nappies! The Real Nappy Project's new video "An introduction to
modern, washable nappies" contains lots of information on the
reasons for using washbale nappies, descriptions of some of the
types that are available and practical details of washing them at
home or using a nappy laundry service.
Click here to order a copy

For more details please call 0117 930 4355 or email Martin Pearse

New places to buy Green Nappies locally - as set up by the Real Nappy Project.
You can now buy your real nappies in Shirehampton Health Centre - ask the receptionist or a health visitor.
At the Bath Royal United Hospital at the antenatal clinic every Monday afternoon.
Also, buy real nappies from The Green Shop in Midsomer Norton.
Please note these are nappy outlets that The Real Nappy Project has helped to set up, and there are many other real nappy stockists in the region.

Also known as Scrapzilla, the Bristol Rubbish Monster has been developed by the Recycling Consortium (TRC) to persuade Bristolians to reduce, reuse and recycle more. Scrapzilla represents the volume of rubbish that Bristol sends to landfill in one month, a staggering 71,000 cubic metres, which is 14,200 tonnes.

He has been taking centre stage at local events, drawing the crowds and highlighting the issue of waste. TRC's Action on Waste staff explain to the public that in one month he will double his size, and in three months he will weigh as much as the Titanic. To stop him growing bigger, everyone needs to reduce, reuse and recycle more than ever!.

TRC hopes that with additional funding, Scrapzilla could move on from his present 2-Dimensional form, to become a gigantic 3-D showstopper!!

Residents of High Kingsdown are celebrating this month for being officially recognised as the greatest recyclers at a Mini Recycling Centre in Bristol. A bottle of champagne to celebrate their outstanding achievement of recycling over 22 tonnes in 2004 was presented to residents by Vicky Stone today.

“The residents of High Kingsdown can feel very proud of themselves,” said Vicky Stone, Development Officer for RIFE, the project dedicated to helping people Recycle In Flats Everyday. “More has been recycled at their Mini Recycling Centre than at any other in Bristol”. In fact, the amount recycled is equal to 3000 papers and magazines, 16000 bottles and 94000 cans, which is amazing.”

Many of the 130 recycling centres at blocks of flats in Bristol are not used as well as High Kingsdown so RIFE, who are supported by Bristol City Council and CRED, have encouraged a bit of friendly competition between them. They have set up a football style league table on their website. This shows how much each block recycle and every month new recycling totals are added. Anyone can visit the site at www.recyclingconsortium.org.uk to see who is rising to top of the league and who is falling.

“Some flats residents may not know that they can easily recycle, despite not having a Black Box. There are Mini Recycling Centres in the car parks or by the bin stores of many of these properties,” said Vicky. “Empty bottles & jars, newspapers & magazines and food tins, drinks cans and aluminium foil can all be recycled using a Mini Recycling Centre.”

Hundreds of pupils from across Bristol  are being enlightened by the presence of  magic in their schools.  The magician known as Battery Man is performing at several primary and infant schools all over the city.  The idea behind the entertaining show is to teach the children about the importance of recycling batteries.

This series of performances in schools has been organised by The Recycling Consortium’s education team in order to promote Bristol City Council’s commitment to battery recycling through the Black Box kerbside collection service.

For the thousands of people in Bristol who live in blocks of flats, student accommodation and old peoples homes, getting the Christmas shopping up to their flat is one thing. But just how to get rid of all the rubbish once Christmas is done, is quite another. Bristol City Council has an easy solution in store. Flat residents can now recycle with ease at Christmas and at every other time of the year, thanks to the recycling centres which have been set up at locations all around the city.

Bristol produces more rubbish than ever at Christmas. All of it does not have to go in the bin. “Even though people who live in blocks of flats can not use the Black Box kerbside recycling service because they do not have a kerbside, they can still recycle easily. Mini Recycling Centres have now been put in the car parks or by the bin stores of many of these properties,” said Vicky Stone Development Officer for RIFE; the project dedicated to helping people Recycle In Flats Everyday.

“Christmas is a good time to get into the recycling habit as there is so much rubbish to get rid of,” said Vicky. “Empty bottles and jars, paper such as wrapping paper & envelopes and food tins, drinks cans and aluminum foil can all be recycled using a Mini Recycling Centre.”

“In this age of consumerism at Christmas, if we can shop till we drop, we can also recycle for life,” said Vicky.

An exhibition of posters designed by some of Southmead’s youngest school children was officially opened at the Library in Greystoke Avenue last Saturday (17th), by Cllr Peter Hammond, who presented prizes to the winning artists.

The competition organised by The Recycling Consortium (TRC) aimed to highlight home composting in a fun way and to link activities in the classroom and home together. The standard and variety of entries was extremely high, resulting in an impressive selection of drawings and making judging very difficult.

A main prize of a family ticket to Bristol Zoo was awarded to one entry from each of the three schools involved, with additional prizes going to winners from each class.

The competition is one of the last activities in a two-year programme of environmental activities run by Future West, in partnership with TRC, and funded by the SEED Lottery fund. The Southmead Schools 4 Sustainability programme has included study of local biodiversity, waste reduction, energy efficiency and local food initiatives.

Helen Peake, Education Officer with the TRC, is delighted with the success of the project, which has involved local primary schools taking part the Eco Schools awards scheme: ‘It has been a real pleasure working with these enthusiastic schools over the years, and to see their work rewarded. The children at Embleton, Badock’s Wood and Fonthill are justifiably proud of their Bronze Awards, and Dunmail pupils are thrilled that their school is one of only three in the whole of Bristol to achieve the prestigious Green Flag. It is so good to see Southmead up there with the winners and spreading the eco-message.’

A colourful exhibition of children’s artwork on recycling themes was held in the Gallery of CREATE Centre, Hotwells

With recycling targets set by Government getting tougher, even doubling in some areas, everyone can resolve to reduce, reuse and recycle. But even more is achieved by taking action together, joining forces with friends and neighbours – and it’s more fun.

A new network has been formed, supported by Bristol-based TRC (The Recycling Consortium), and this week the Avon Community Recycling and Reuse Network (ACORRN) will be formally launched. On Friday 1 October at 12.30, at Avon Wildlife Trust, Willsbridge Mill, near Keynsham, Dr. Caroline Jackson, MEP for the South West, will be guest speaker at the Launch, which will include a celebration of the project’s work. She is also author of The End of the Throwaway Society and said ‘I congratulate the organisers of this project. It is exactly what we need if Britain is to reach the recycling rates of our European neighbours, and I am delighted to give the Avon network my support.’

Born in Cornwall, Dr. Jackson is now chairman of the Parliament’s committee on the Environment, Consumer Protection and Public Health, which is negotiating EU legislation in such key areas as GM foods and the prevention of global warming.

ACORRN brings together more than 30 groups from the old Avon area, sharing resources and skills – all with common aims and committed to a better, less wasteful future. Throughout the region, from Bishopston to Bath, Kingswood to Winford and Southville, community groups are tackling refuse with a whole range of initiatives, including furniture reuse and renovation, organising recycling at public events, computer recycling and creative use of ‘scrap’ for art and music. Several are doing vital compost work, rescuing green waste from our bins (which can be 30-40%) and saving it from landfill. Members are diverse – from small village-based composters to larger social enterprises like Sofa Project, helping those in need, and Children’s Scrapstore, inspiring the young – but now they’re showing a united front.

The new network will boost morale, enable mutual support and improved communication, it will also give a stronger voice to community groups in dealing with local authorities, waste management companies and local enterprise.

ACORRN has some very good ideas indeed – acorrnucopia in fact – and its branches are growing.

Interested groups who would like to discover the many benefits of joining forces can find out more from martin.pearse@resourcefutures.co.uk at The Recycling Consortium, CREATE Centre, Smeaton Road, Bristol, BS1 6XN. Tel: (0117) 930 4355. Fax: (0117) 929 7283.

Date of issue 1ST June 2004

Bristol schoolchildren contributed to the hundreds of events across the UK in May promoting International Compost Awareness Week. It is celebrated throughout Europe, Canada and the USA, with the theme this year of Be Resourceful – Compost!

The staff and pupils of West Town Lane Infants, Brislington, were particularly keen to get involved because they are a committed Eco School. Already the proud holders of a Bronze Award, they are working hard for the Silver, and so composting workshops, led by Helen Peake of The Recycling Consortium (TRC) education team, were an instant success.

TRC education projects are designed around schemes of work which all primary schools follow, and helping plants grow fits perfectly into the science curriculum. The school’s compost bin is sited in the conservation area, every class has a collection point, and there is plenty of fruit waste thanks to the school’s healthy snack policy.  Helen’s introduction to the mysteries of an ordinary compost bin begins with a close look at minibeasts: the hardworking worms, beetles and centipedes from the army of tiny creatures which make such a magical transformation. Movement activities also encourage imagination and real involvement, and are great fun too, as children act out the busy life of the marvellous minibeast world.

New compost from old plants is then used for potting, and everyone takes home their own bedding plant – with a reminder of what else it will need, from sun and water, to thrive. There is also the message for parents, that composting at home is just as easy to do.

From Year 1 teacher, Victoria Rayner, the report was glowing. ‘The compost morning linked so well with our current topic of plant growth. The children thoroughly enjoyed learning about how it’s made and the benefits it would give to the plants taken home. Many have come into school reporting on how many flowers they now have! Our new classroom compost bin is in constant use and during our recent fruit salad-making session it had to be emptied twice – much to the children's delight.’

 And for TRC’s teacher, Helen, it is that delight which is her constant reward: ‘No matter how many times you’ve done this workshop, it always works, that moment of discovery of new life, and the children’s real pleasure in seeing so much – in garden soil! From age three to ten, or even older, the magic never fails’.

Composting may seem an unlikely subject for a magical mystery tour, but at these workshops there was no doubt about the children’s verdict:

‘It’s really clever, cos the bugs make the soil! The bugs was crawling around and I picked one up and it tickled on my hand. It was a centipede’, and for another, ‘It was fun. We put the plants in the soil and I could see the leaves and the roots and the plant growing. I liked making the label, but didn’t forget to water the plant anyway – and I put it in my garden cos it’s nice and sunny there’.

And although it may be too soon to bring in a homegrown apple for the teacher, or even a flower, the school has a colourful crop of artwork on display – including the friendliest centipedes!

New composting bays at Barracks Lane Allotments in Shirehampton will bring a small but powerful force to work on garden waste this spring. The hard-working armies of worms are being given ideal billets in two large bays, recently built by The Recycling Consortium (TRC). The improved facilities will be used to compost vegetable waste, prunings and weeds from allotment plots, so that nothing ends up, like most household rubbish, dumped in landfill. More space means that plot holders will also be able to use the many tons of leaves available, to make properly rotted- down leaf mould and soil conditioner. Peter Hall from the Recycling Consortium said, “Barracks Lane allotments were just ideal for the compost bays. Their car park was half full of piles of leaves delivered last autumn and the allotment holders were keen to recycle more of their green waste - so we’ve given them a place to recycle and tidied up the site at the same time”.

Barracks Lane Compost Bays were supported with a grant from Bristol City Council’s Sustainable Neighbourhood Fund. It is the final phase of three such projects in North West Bristol with the funds aimed at recycling more of Bristol’s green waste. Pat Roberts, Councillor for the Avonmouth ward and member of Bristol’s Waste Minimisation and Recycling Select Committee, will officially open the new bays on Thursday 6th May, at 1.00pm.

The event is just one of hundreds across the UK to promote International Compost Awareness Week, 2nd - 8th May, which is celebrated throughout Europe, Canada and the USA. Be Resourceful - Compost! is this year’s theme.

With up to a third of our household rubbish easily compostable at home, the campaign aims to highlight the value of household and community composting. It conserves resources, saves energy, reduces air and water pollution, and provides gardeners with a rich soil conditioner - for free. Encouraging composting is simply one of easiest and most important steps anyone can take to reduce the huge amount of waste which is transported every single night to landfill sites.

So be resourceful - and join up.

For more information about buying a subsidised home compost bin in Bristol
Ring the Recycling Helpline on (0117) 903 1221

Allotments are available at more than 120 sites throughout the Bristol area. Telephone 0117 9223737 for full details and to request leaflet with locations
Or visit: www.bristol-city.gov.uk

Away from computers and their CREATE Centre desks in Hotwells, the TRC task force was on a mission recently - to paint. The Recycling Consortium staff’s annual Away Day was 24 March, and it was no rest cure. Not for them a ramble in country woods, or a bus trip to the seaside. Instead they took a short ride across the city to the new Children’s Scrapstore which is in desperate need of a facelift.

Scrapstore, a member of TRC, has been based in a Welshback warehouse: a delightful waterside setting. However it has real practical problems - especially parking for the play group staff who rely on Scrapstore’s services. The warehouse is worn out, the leased expired, and it’s time to move on. However, the Proving House premises in St. Werburghs are not ready for the charity to move into. Which is where the TRC working party came in, literally, with overalls and rollers to help in a rapid make-over.

The new premises will be home to the Centre for Creative Play, a unique one-stop-shop for childcare and play resources. Its larger size will help Scrapstore to take larger quantities of the scrap material on offer from businesses and not turn donations away.

TRC’s assignment was not just a mob-handed paint job. There were mental work-outs too. Dee Moxon, a community artist and established trainer, set challenges for the staff to find creative solutions, and to encourage team work. The results were some fabulous, scrap-built beasts, the like of which never walked - just flights of fancy!

At the end of the day, it was away for due rest, relaxation and refreshment at the local pub, with some t.l.c. for the scrap-squad of TRC.

Date of issue: 1 March 04

Bristol primary school pupils have come up with an ingenious traffic light system to show how many people in their area use the Black Box for recycling. Children from Badock’s Wood school in Southmead have awarded a green light to some local streets for their recycling efforts. Unfortunately, however, some streets have been given a red light , because the children think the people who live there should stop throwing rubbish in the bin and recycle more!

Staff from the Recycling Consortium are helping children from Badock’s Wood with their waste reduction, reuse and recycling work. In a novel project, the pupils coloured in streets in red, orange, or green on maps of Southmead, depending on how many people in the street use the Black Box service for recycling.

The data for the maps was collected by The Recycling Consortium last year when a survey was carried out to assess the number of recyclers in the area. When they were doing the key for colour coding on the maps, the children decided to use traffic light colours i.e. red if 0% to 20% people in the street use their Black Box, orange for 21 - 40% and green for 41 - 60% participation. They also chose yellow for those streets who had achieved an excellent rate of 61 - 80% because the colour is like a gold star!

After they had finished the mapping work, children then created their own colourful posters to encourage people to recycle more. These will be displayed with the maps in local community centres, shops and other public places. which together make an eye-catching display that will be difficult for anyone to ignore.

“These year 4 pupils got really excited about the project,” said Helen Peake from the Recycling Consortium. “It encouraged a bit of healthy competition between the children because they wanted to see who lived in a street with the best recycling! We hope these messages will be taken home to the parents to encourage them to do the important job of putting their Black Box out every week full of recyclables for collection. “

The children had fun but also took the project to heart - one pupil exclaimed; "I thought it was good because I learnt a lot about how my street and my friends' streets had been doing with their recycling. When we put the maps up, people can look at them and think, ‘I must try and persuade some of my neighbours to recycle.’ My school's really good at recycling because we have Black Boxes in all the classrooms what we fill up with paper, and we've got a compost bin too."

Another pupil said: "I'm into imagining things, and soon the world's going to be nasty and smelly. So we made eye-catching posters to make people stop throwing their rubbish out. I want people to think about stopping putting their bins out and using black boxes instead."

The Recycling Consortium are working in partnership with Future West on this project which is part of their ‘Southmead Schools 4 Sustainability’ project, funded by the SEED (Social, Economic and Environmental Development) Programme. SEED projects aim to ’help communities improve quality of life and encourage more sustainable lifestyles.'

For further information about:
The Recycling Consortium's Education Project:
Ring Robin Jones 0117 930 4355
education@resourcefutures.co.uk

The 'Southmead Schools 4 Sustainability' project:
Ring Chris Townsend at Future West on 9038492 christownsend@wpsd.demon.co.uk

A group of young men who have daubed a wall in one of the most rundown areas of Bristol with aerosol paint will not be reprimanded by the police, rather they will be congratulated by the Lord Mayor of the city. The graffiti artists, who were commissioned by The Recycling Consortium, have produced a colourful mural with a strong recycling message and recognisable scenes from Jamaica. The Lord Mayor, Councillor Bill Martin, officially unveiled the mural to a crowd of to Bristol MP's, councillors, business people and local residents.

The mural, which is on what used to be a grey concrete wall of an electricity sub station, has been paid for by The Recycling Consortium using some money from a DEFRA (Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) grant. Caroline Lee-Smith, TRC Action on Waste worker for the area said, "we wanted people to enjoy looking at the mural and to brighten up the area. Kuldesac, the artists were briefed to design a colourful trendy scene with Jamaican landscapes, recycling messages and a group of 'cool dudes' doing some recycling."

Local residents and workers are delighted with the mural. Christine Kenna, from Hoole & Co Solicitors, which overlooks the mural said, "It's wonderful, it really brightens up the area. And it's a community thing - it has already brought people together to talk about it, who would normally walk past each other." Many local people recognise the Jamaican scenes in the mural and one man said; "I know it's Jamaica because of the palm trees, and the SUN!"

"The idea behind the mural is to thank local residents for recycling more now than ever before. However, with such a strong recycling message the mural should act as a colourful reminder to those people who haven't yet started using the Black Box kerbside service or the local recycling banks," said Caroline.

Date of issue: 16 June 2003

Five hundred and sixty pupils at St. Michael's Primary School will be creatively recycling almost everything this week (16 to 20 June), as the only thing they will throw away is their normal timetable. The teachers have given children a break from normal numeracy and literacy lessons for a week so they can celebrate their environment through art, dance, drama and music during an Environmental Arts Week.

The teachers, visiting artists, parents and local businesses have worked together on a whole week of arts activities for the children aged between 5 and 11 years old. They will take part in exciting and creative activities that will brighten up their school grounds and will teach them more about their environment.

"Holding a whole week dedicated to encouraging creative development in the children through art, music, drama and dance has been a great opportunity for both the children and the staff at St. Michael's," said (acting) head teacher, Stephanie Bower. "It shows how dedicated and positive the school's staff are in developing the pupils academic and creative talents as well as stimulating an interest in their environment," she said.

By the end of the week, the school walls will be a multi-coloured art show. The outside of some classrooms will be decorated with huge colourful murals. And a large mosaic on another of the school walls will form the centre piece of the week's activities. This mosaic, made from scrap materials, will tell the story of an environmental journey, and will be created the school art club, working with nationally known artist Barbara Disney.

The children will be also making their own instruments from junk materials. They will then compose and perform some really wild songs with the help of visiting musicians, David Ogden and Acoustic Arts. Other children will perform Stomp style dances using recycled materials.

The Recycling Consortium (TRC), who work with the South Gloucestershire Sort It, will kick the week off with a visit to all of the classrooms with lessons in recycling to give the children some inspiration for creative ideas throughout week. TRC Education officer, Mary Lewis, said "the work that everyone from the school has put into this project has been amazing. It's wonderful to have such enthusiasm and commitment throughout the school and the local area all focused towards getting this fantastic environmental project off the ground."

The school has had a huge amount of help in running this week from local people and businesses. The school's Parent Teachers Friends Association, who donated a large sum to cover the costs of bringing in the artists and the arts and crafts materials. Rolls Royce in Filton have also provided money to pay for materials used during the arts week. Also, the B&Q superstore in Filton provided many of the DIY materials including paint, brushes and wood. Adrian and Chris, the store's environmental champions, will run workshops with some of the classes making bird boxes, planters and teapot stands.

Date of issue: 09 June 03

On Saturday, 7 June, hundreds of people from all over Bristol got nosey! For one day only, some of Bristol's best known environmental organisations opened their doors and let visitors go 'behind the scenes'. The day was Green Open Doors Day, the finale of the 10th West of England Environment Festival, a week of events and activities celebrating the local environment.

A range of organisations, from Avon Wildlife Trust to Willsbridge Mill, opened their doors and allowed visitors a glimpse into their inner workings. Visitors had the opportunity to take part in tours, chat to staff and take home ideas to help improve their own environment.

There was even a chance for visitors to show off their artistic side by taking part in free craft workshops. In the Eco-home at the CREATE Centre, young and old alike learned how to make paper. In the City Centre, the Children's Scrapstore had kids "flying high" with its popular kite making workshop. Technology was turned into art at Byte Back in Knowle West, where people of all ages made sculpture out of bits of old computers. And Resourcesaver in Eastville gave people the chance to see what happens to the items that are put in their black boxes. The younger visitors (and the young at heart) also had the opportunity to enjoy the rays by making recycled sun catchers out of aluminium trays.

Green Open Doors Day was a great way to introduce people to the wide variety of organisations working to make Bristol a better place to live. Bristol resident Andy Martin, who visited the Children's Scrapstore and Leigh Court Farm, enthused about the day. "It is amazing to see what goes on behind the scenes at organisations you may have only heard about. You can really see how they make a positive difference to life in Bristol."

Date Of issue: 20 May 2003

A competition winner has been awarded for being a great recycler. The Recycling Consortium presented the keen to be green winner with a trolley load of supermarket goods. Around 1000 people in Southmead were involved in the competition to use their Black Recycling Box every week. The winner, Pat Newport, won a £50 voucher and several other runners up have also been awarded with vouchers to spend in a local supermarket.

The competition, run by The Recycling Consortium and funded with money from DEFRA, aimed to increase the number of households in Southmead who recycle their rubbish. Around 1000 leaflets went out to homes in Southmead - people who wanted to win £50 of vouchers to spend in an Iceland store put an entry form out with their recyclables. "The competition has had a great response already. The number of people using their Black Boxes has gone up by 20% since we leafleted the area in March," said The Recycling Consortium's Terry Miller. " We hope people have got the recycling habit and will continue to do it every week," he said.

The competition winner Pat Newport said, "It's really nice to be rewarded with this prize for my recycling efforts. It's no trouble at all putting newspaper, tins and so on into a box, and putting it out Monday mornings. So thank you Recycling Consortium for the prize and thank you Iceland!"

The Recycling Consortium are hoping that the competition will act as a fun reminder for people in Southmead to use their Black recycling Boxes, rather than just throwing their rubbish away in their wheelie bins.

Date of issue: 1st April 2003

Parents who want real babies have been given a head start in Bristol, thanks to a new project that was launched at the start of Real Nappy Week (7 – 13 April).  A local Health Centre has opened an outlet for real washable nappies, available at affordable prices to everyone who wants them. 

Shirehampton Health Centre is the first clinic in the city to set up this initiative, with many other health centres poised to offer similar services very soon.  “It’s a fantastic community based scheme which has the added advantage of being environmentally friendly,” said Dr Mo McManus the Project’s Development Officer.   The Health Centre now offers the nappies and waterproof covers at affordable prices, as well as advice and instructions for use.

Ruth Campbell, a health visitor from Shirehampton Health Centre has worked with the Bristol based Real Nappy Project to get this scheme off the ground. 

“It’s quite simple,” she said.   “For the sake of the environment we need to change from disposables to real nappies.  Now local mums have the ease of buying these from our Health Centre, in the same way that they buy baby milk from us.”

Real Nappy Week is a National initiative with activities and events occurring all around the country.  The idea is to let people know about the benefits of using real nappies.  They can save up to £800 for the first baby alone, as well as saving the environment from the three billion nappies that are thrown away every year in the UK - these end up in land fill sites and may take over 200 years to rot down. 

People wanting to find out more, can contact Martin Pearse on 0117 9304355 for information about real nappies.

The Recycling Consortium's Director, Jane Stephenson has been named in the New Year Honours List. She will pick up the MBE for her services to community recycling. She has worked in the sector since 1983, has been director of TRC since 1994 and is one of the founder members of the charity Waste Watch.

"It is a wonderful surprise and a great honour to receive this award. I feel that it stands as a tribute to the dedication and hard work of the staff, volunteers, trustees and members of the organisations that make up the community recycling sector," said Jane. "They have all worked alongside me to develop the important and active role that the sector plays in running waste reduction, reuse and recycling initiatives throughout the UK. "