Great News

   Between January this year and the end of June, the book recycling has raised 

£619.17

   for school. 

 Many wonderful books have been donated to our recycling centre. Some are sold locally. Most are sold/traded in on the internet.

    A BIG "THANK YOU" TO EVERYONE.

Please continue to give your books to school--any age, type and condition. Those that aren't sold after a while, will be torn up and put in  our paper bank, boosting the half yearly weight credits that the school receives from Babergh/Mid Suffolk Council. 
They can be put in the appropriate blue wheelie bin at the recycling centre or dropped off at the bungalow which has  the book stall at the roadside in Whatfield Road 

          Good for school and Great for our environment!
P.S  We also collect atlases, old O.S. Maps, encyclopaedias
text books and instruction manuals

Good and bad News

The GOOD news first.

These used spectacles have been left at the school’s recycling centre and will be delivered to Dunstone Optometry in Hadleigh soon  -  the second load this year.

They will be sent to Vision Aid Overseas, who recycle them to raise funds to support their work abroad.

Fundraising for school.
Babergh/Mid Suffolk have always supported our recycling Centre since it opened 25years ago, supplying new bins , offering advice and more recently, getting the recycling banks moved to the Village Hall's car park while the School's toilets were being refurbished. 
So the letter that arrived just before Christmas  from Babergh/Mid Suffolk Waste department  detailing a reduction in the money per tonne paid to school for paper, glass and textiles was a bit of a shock.  This was the first change since the recycling centre was opened 25years ago and I've always assumed that this was because money from the Landfill Tax, introduced by John Gummer to encourage recycling, subsidised our scheme.
It would seem that our school's eco-fundraising scheme will have to rely more on selling  books and  inkjet cartridges.

BOOK RECYCLING.

A  BIG THANK YOU TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO CONTINUE TO SUPPORT OUR 

BOOK RECYCLING SCHEME.

Over the last  year, this scheme has raised

 £536.41

for school.

Like many of the books that are left at the recycling centre, this perfect  little book, with a tatty cover, was  sold  to an internet buyer. Better quality books  are added to the book stall at the bottom of our drive in Whatfield Road.

We accept all types of adult and children's books-- any age and condition. Those that  are too tatty are torn up and put into the paper bank at our recycling centre and help to boost the weight credits that we receive from Babergh /Mid Suffolk Council.It's a win win situation! HURRAY

Back to normal

It has taken a long time since my last post. The old toilets have been replaced and our recycling facilities will all be back on the slightly altered old site  by the end of next week.

General update

It's been a .long time since I added a piece to this blog. In fact, I haven't spent the winter travelling the world, but  have been trying to keep up with a  number of changes recently, which have taken up a lot of my timeand energy!
Firstly-- just after my last report, BCR Global, the company that has serviced our  textile recycling all these years, surprised everyone by going into liquidation. The textile back was sealed up while another company was found to replace BCR.  Fortunately, with s a great deal of support from Babergh/Mid Suffolk Waste department, who supplied a  wheelie bin for the public to use, the textiles were all stored safely in my garage until the new company(ERC) started collections earlier this year.
About this time Takeback Ltd who take our laser and inket cartridges, was sold to another, very large company.  This hasn't  has much impact as yet.
Then -HURRAY -  the school anounced that the very ancient and problematical toilets were going to be replaced and the tempoery toilets needed to go on the recycling centre as it was the only place where the sewage pipe could be accessed!
So all the recycling banks were re-sited on the Village Hall car park. Once again Babergh/ Mid Suffolk waste and recycling department stepped in and organised this.
Only the Book Recycling has carried on as normal. Loads of wonderful books hav been donaated and I've had time tosort and sell them on the Internet

This just one of forty art books that I received this weekend. All in excellent condition. So far I've managed to photograph ten and add them to my store
Take a peep. You might be tempted!
PS. We now have a page on Facebook

Super " AS NEW" books

The number of excellent second-hand books that people donate to our recyling centre is amazing.
Here are just a few that you can buy via our store front on Amazon

Have a look at the Amazon site.The quality of all the books that are featured are are better than "VERY GOOD" .

I shal be displaying this at the recycling centre later today.
Thiss amount doesn't include moneythat has been generated by book sales since this March  and the income from Takeback Ltd for recycling cartridges, since the end of last year.
No news, as yet about the work that needs to be done to improve the children's toilets.

Every little helps

It takes a while to collect enough stamps to send to the R,S. P. B., so I was pleased to post this parcel yesterday.
Had to look up their address, so did a bit of research at the same time.
Stamps raised £17.000 to help save the Albatross between 2012 -2013.
Uk stamps raise £6.00 per kg.
Foreign Stamps raise £17.00 per kg.
More unusual or rare stamps sell for more.

My parcel weighed just over a kilogram and contained UK , foreign stamps and hopefully a few rare ones. A dropi n the ocean, but worth doing I think!

Catching up time.

 Books keep arriving at the recycling centre. They all need sorting and most of the very good, undamaged ones are sold or traded in on the  internet via Amzon  and Ziffit.

These two Nicci French thrillers  are the latest book to go on Ebay. 

Just before the end of term the school recieved a cheque for £391.32. This is the profit from  the book sold between December 15the 2014 and the end of March. 

Thank you  to all the  people who donate and all those who buy our books!

Feeling sad -- the bookshop at Green Metropolis has closed

Initially, I started to sell the better quality and more unusual books that are left at the recycling centre on this lovely website because The Woodland Trust received a small amount from each sale. But Green Metropolis was much more than that -- a community website for book lovers, with a discussion forum, info about books and much more!

In his closing statement, Barry Crow says:

Together we’ve helped keep more books in circulation for longer, helping the environment and, with your help, have raised over £35,000 for our charity partner.

Out of this amount, The Woodland Trust received a massive £28,224.00. What a great achievement. Let's hope Barry Crow has another brilliant idea up his sleeve!

New Year. New opportunities!

This  notice adorns the book stall at the gate and the New recycling notice board at the recycling centre!.
I'm just amazed at the number and quality of  books that are passed on to me to sell and raise funds for school. I'd love to have time to read a many of them, but.......!

As gate sales don't keep pace with the number of books that I receive, I now sell on  Amazon and Green Metropolis.

Just before Christmas I discovered Ziffit.com, which is similar to Amazon's "Trade in" site.

A fast and efficient service and great if you have a lot of books to sell.

Busy Book Recycling

This summer has been very busy for the recycling centre--our 20th year. Loads of wonderful fiction and non-fiction paper and hardbacks have been left in my porch and deposited in the wheelie bin at the recycling centre. Unsuitable ones contribute to the weight in the paper banks. Other are put on a stall by my gate .Others are sold on the internet. The book below is on Ebay  As new, it'sunusual and  a bargain!

It’s always good to receive feedback from people that have bought books online. These two recent comments are from people that have bought from over 200 books that are on my page at Green Metropolis

 John from Aylesbury wrote

“Thank you so much for sending the Medieval Wall Paintings book so promptly.  Excellent condition – I really am not fussed about an inscription on the inside cover!

It’s a great service you provide. With my very best wishes.   ”

And Mary from Abergavenny wrote

“This book was beautifully wrapped and contained a lovely note. Thanks so much!”

I also have a shop on Amazon. All the books are in very good condition or better—even the antique ones.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/shops/ecomaid

https://www.greenmetropolis.com/member.aspx?id=132139

New initatives.

Plastic carrier bags are a plague on the natural world, so I've started to collect them at the recycling centre. Not convinced if, or how they are recycled by the large supermarkets, but they will be taken to one of their collection points unitl I find a better alternative. I understand, if the price is right, they are shipped to the Far East in the empty container vessals that bring goods to this country. Not too sure how they are  dealt with there! Otherwise they are put into landfill sites. If anyone knows better, please let me know.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Elmsett School's Community Recycling Centre has been officially open for 20 years. I believe we were one of the first schools in Suffolk to do this.
It was a great way to introduce the pupils to many aspects of environmental education not least , the  problems of waste, pollution, the destruction and how to care for our environment in a sustainable way. In fact, on our first application to become an Eco School we were awarded a Green flag, the highest level of achievement.
Since leaving teaching, environmental issues are getting worse. Our children and grandchildren face a dire future and need to know how their lifestyles can make a difference. I'm not sure that the national curriculum tackles this in any depth-- but I could be wrong! They should look at my daughter's new website for helpful hints and expert advice.
So we are celebrating 20 years of recycling this term, starting with an all day party in the village hall this Friday. Leaflets and a bin liners have been distributed throughout the village, which people have been asked to fill with recyclables and bring to the event. Members of the  PTA and children from the Eco committee will sort everything out. Should be fun. Tea and cakes will be available. Cheers!
Meanwhile -- a bit of tidying up is needed at the recycling centre.

Hadleigh Green Fair

Spent the day selling second hand books and new copies of Old Knobbley and  talking about Buckle's Wood. Lots of interest all round and Old Knobbley seemed to be quite famous!

A mammoth task.

The PTA and the recycling fundraising schemes have a huge target this year.
The children's toilets need refurbishing (Suffolk County Council has no money due to budget cuts) and extra resources are needed for the new curriculum.
So the target is a massive £12,000.
I was sorting out books to sell, I was trying to think of an appropriate slogan for our campaign.
Books for Bogs came to mind, but perhaps A Read for the Toilets would be more acceptable?

Still recycling

 

I apologise for the slight pause with blogging over the winter, partly due to sorting out the recycling accounts and then getting used to a new laptop when my very old computer died.

 

Our  recycling centre was opened 20 years ago!  The drawings above are from that time and are self portraits drawn by some of the children that I taught. My weekly assemblies were always about caring for our environment (in  its broadest sense, from waste to wonder) with the children went to secondary school  quite a few of them were eco-warriors  and still are, I hope!

We continue to collect paper, glass, textiles, drinks cartons, books and aluminium cans at our recycling centre in the fenced off area at the end of the school playground.

I  pick up toner and inkjet cartridges from local companies and Takeback Ltd  collects  from other local and national companies on our behalf.

Spectacles are given to Vision Aid Overseas, via our local optician and aluminium foil is collected   by members of the Sudbury Resource Centre.

Everyone can do their bit to help the environment and there's a wonderful new website hat can inspire you. Check it out 

 www.worldchanging.me

 

 

More on Bargain books!

Looking back over the year, I've spent a busy and fruitful time selling the best books that have been donated to our recycling centre.

Over 400 have been bought from the stall at my gate for 20p each, but more if the buyer thinks they are worth it.  There is a selection of over 300.on my Amazon.shop, all reasonably priced and in very good or better conditition.  I've also sent quite a few to Amazon to be  "traded-in".
This is one of the latest books to go on   Amazon. It's "as new" and the pocket that hold the CD is unopened.

This weekend I shall be working out the amount of money to give school!
Watch this space.

What to do with plastics

We can't recycle plastics, so what do you do with them? Most will go in your blue bin; some can be recycled at the Household Waste and Recycling Centre in Crockett Way, Hadleigh, straight across the Hadleigh by-pass, then turn left at the roundabout.

Here's a video that explains which plastics can be recycled.

Another new Textile Bank?

Well--the rag raiders have been again! This time they damaged our bank and no-one could open it. So  thanks to prompt action by Black Country Rags (BCR), we now have this FORT KNOX style container on site.
The police have reacted quickly and perhaps this might be the last time that I have to contact them.
If any rag raiders read this, they should know that we are hatching a cunning plan!