On the visit to SWEEEP

Following a screening in Hythe, then another in Folkestone, of the film Trashed, which highlights the world’s waste crisis, a number of us regrouped to consider some of the issues raised by the film. This ‘waste sub-group’ came up with a number of ideas for taking action to reduce waste in our community and we’ve made a start on most of them, so this is an update on progress to date.

If you would like to be involved in any of the initiatives or if you have other ideas, or know of other good information resources that we should highlight, please don’t hesitate to make contact.

Our aim is to encourage better awareness of the ‘three Rs’: Reduce, reuse, recycle

Since the initial kick-off we have:

  • Met with Shepway District Council’s waste officer to find out the current processes, collections and challenges within the district;
  • Had waste stalls and information boards at a number of our events;
  • Visited two of Kent’s waste facilities (the Allington incinerator and electrical goods recycling plant, SWEEEP, in Sittingbourne) to look at what goes on after the collections;
  • Started to plan a survey of local businesses to understand what items they currently send to landfill and for incineration; ahead of this, we have started to talk to individual businesses on a one-to-one basis and have already picked up interesting feedback;
  • Arranged a workshop for pupils at one of Hythe’s primary schools, Palmarsh.

Are there other things we should be doing? Let us know, become involved. We have a small, busy sub-group looking at this area and would welcome more volunteers.

A good website for background reading and to see other campaigns related to plastic waste is here: http://english.expeditionmed.eu/fr/

There are also a number of sites with wonderful, simple ideas that have minimum impact on the environment.

One of these is https://myzerowaste.com. The lady who runs it organises zero waste weeks when we could all take the challenge and get others to participate too. It would be an interesting hands-on experience that would give us a better understanding of what areas need improving.

There is also a Facebook page where you can ask for advice and tips, a helpful bunch of people https://www.facebook.com/groups/ZeroWasteWeekHeroes/

This site has lots of tips, including the top ten for getting started. The annual landfill waste created by Kathryn Kellogg, who runs the site, can fit into one small jam jar. http://www.goingzerowaste.com Spoiler alert: composting is probably the most important step of all.

Our initial inspiration – the film, Trashed

Here is another website that conveys the message in a simple, with videos on what can and cannot be recycled, plus short informative videos and ideas. It is a government-backed initiative: http://www.recyclenow.com/ It could be a good source of inspiration for the planned workshops.

WRAP is a UK-based charity with a useful website. It is seeking to drive change in areas where we can make the biggest difference, comprising food and drink, textiles and electrical/electronics products. The collective impact of these accounts for: 25% of UK carbon footprint; 80% of UK water footprint; 40% of UK household waste. http://www.wrap.org.uk

Freecycle is a well-known site for people to offer items that would otherwise be binned, so too Trash Nothing, and there are Folkestone groups on both.