Aluminium Cans

Last Saturday we borrowed a van, filled it with crushed aluminium cans and took them to Whip Street Motors, where they were weighed and then unloaded, ready to be crushed and baled.
We were paid--another £180.00 for the recycling fund. When we have another load, Whip Street Motors will supply a skip for the recycling centre, free of charge, which will make life a lot easier for us!!

I have banned steel food and drink cans, as too many were being left at the recycling centre with the remains of their contents inside and although they are heavier the alu-cans, they are not as valuable.

We still save aluminium foil, which we give to The Sudbury Resource Centre. They collected the load below in the pouring rain yesterday

Money Matters

The recycling accounts are due to be audited soon, so I thought that, as this year has been rather difficult for me and the school's recycling centre, I would just check on the income for this half of the year and was pleased, as it amounts to £2,326.85.

With the prospect of difficult financial times ahead, the school has abandoned their ambitious plans for a multi -use play area on the meadow and are now hoping to raise just £1o,00 for a new games area. If money raised by the school's PTA is added to the recycling fund, the target should be reached by the end of the year!

There are about 60+ used cartridges packed into the boxes in the photo, all donated by local companies and ready to be collected on July 9th. Some of these businesses have been supporting our recycling centre since it opened in 1994, when this way of raising funds was a novelty
They all deserve a medal!

Renewable ideas - win £1000

Tetra Pak and the WWF-UK are looking for ideas to get everyone to think and buy renewable. For example: “Create a renewable App to help shoppers”. Be imaginative and you could win £1,000 for yourself and £25,000 to make your idea happen.

Click here to go to the Renewable Idea website to find out more.

Congratulations

The children and staff at Elmsett School must have been working hard over the last few years, to achieve their third Green Flag for the Eco-schools Scheme.
Well done everyone-- it's good to see the new flag flying from the top of the pole!
I had a quick look at the Eco-Schools' website. and was pleased to note that, out of the 13,849 school that are registered, only 1,046 schools have been awarded the Green Flag.


The Eco Schools' inspector must have been very impressed with all the hard work that has gone into making this wonderful and productive allotment, in a nearby field, as there is no room to do this within the school's grounds. With support and guidance from the East Feast team and help from parents, I expect the children are looking forward to a bumper crop this year!

James Lovelock

I made a point of listening to James Lovelock on the Today programme this morning, as he has spent most of his 90 years studying environmental issues.
Is his Gaia theory right or wrong? Has our planet's bio-system been altered beyond repair by human activity?
He is very gloomy about the future for the human race, but is right about one thing, which has been left out of the clip, our planet is a wondrous place to live!

Back to Normal

It has taken about one and a half terms to complete the new extension, with its disabled access and secure parking area for bikes, and it looks really good, matching our old building brilliantly!

The school playground has always been small, so the builders needed to used part of the recycling centre during, making it difficult for contractors to empty the containers.
Not that I'm moaning-- there was no other way. I'm just hoping that it hasn't made too much difference to the weight credits that we receive from Babergh District Council. The last cheque for July to September was £729.38!

Just a minute

Have a break? from Greenpeace UK on Vimeo.

I guess you're thinking "what's this got to do with recycling?"

Well, when I was teaching, I found that it was very easy to link recycling to land use, caring for our environment and sustainability. Most children seem to have a natural interest and affinity with animals and the pupils at Elmsett School have helped to create Buckles Wood and know that trees and bio-diversity are important.

If you want some information about other products that use palm oil in their production click here.

Hot off the press

Weight Credits

Babergh District Council and Mid Suffolk Council are merging and reorganising some of their services. Waste and recycling is part of this cost cutting and streamlining initiative, so details of weight credit payments last year have been sent a little later than usual.
We receive payment for the weight of paper, glass and textiles taken from our recycling centre and the bottle bank outside the Rose and Crown. Between April and September last year, this amounted to just over £1500.00. Totally brilliant for a small village.
Many thanks everyone, especially Dennis Hill, who donates the weight credits from the his bottle bank to school.

Recycling your Christmas cards

We used to recycle our Christmas cards with Tesco, to help The Woodland Trust raise funds for planting trees. This year only WH Smith, TK Maxx and M&S are listed on their website as participating companies

As it will not be easy to deliver to these stores, which are in the middle of Ipswich, we shall be taking our bin liners full of cards to Sainsbury and the money raised will benefit the Forest Stewardship Council.

Morrisons are collecting cards for a second year. The Salvation Army is their chosen charity.

New Extension

The new extension at the front of the school is nearly finished. The architects and builders have done a grand job, matching the new building with our lovely old Victorian school. I know they took extra care with the window frames and sills. It will be a pleasure to look at while I'm sorting out the recycling!!!

Now the office staff will be able to work in peace, without being distracted by people having to use their very small room as a corridor to get from one part of the school to another and there will be a pleasant reception area for visitors.

I'm thankful that the villagers are still trying to use the recycling centre. The picture above shows that the builders have been working in very cramped conditions. Waste skips and latterly workers vehicles, have blocked the access for the companies that collect from the recycling area.

We are building a glass mountain in the corner!

Bad News--Good news

On returning from a two weeks restful break on Thassos (I shall plant some more trees via The Woodland Trust) and not having access to national or global news, it was depressing to start our first day back by listening to The Farming and Today programmes. Bumble and Honey bees still on the decline, as is the Arctic ice cap.

The good news is that had time to do a lot of reading. One of the books that I had in my case and thoroughly enjoyed was David MacKay's book about climate change. A strange thing to say about the prospect of impending chaos, but I was riveted by the way he has addressed the challenge of reducing out energy consumption in an understandable way! Everyone should read it and have it on their bookshelf. He is now the Chief Scientific Advisor at the Department of Energy and Climate Change. Great news!

The second good thing was an email from Dr. Gary Robertshaw, requesting reciprocal links with The Green Providers Directory No sooner said than done! You'll find information and links to most aspects of sustainable/ethical companies and organisations and MORE.

So far, so good

This photo was taken at the end of the summer holiday. Now most of the end of the playground is taken up with equipment, building materials and of course, the new building and access ramps.
Difficult conditions for everyone to cope with, and nowhere for the children to play, when the weather is wet and they can't use the meadow to let off steam!
The new building is scheduled to be completed by Christmas., when I expect the recycling fund will help to provide "additional extras".

So I was really pleased to receive a bank payment of £814.46 in August, from Babergh District Council. The second amount of recycling weight credits this year.

We'd never do this, but ...

One Last Shot

Work on the new extension at the front of the school has started, so took one last photo of the school, before the builders arrived.
It's hoped that the extension to the front and side of the old building will be finished by the end of next term. The new entrance, with a ramp access, will take up a considerable area of the play ground.
With little room to maneuver, the builders are having to use the recycling centre to site waste skips.
Let's hope that this access isn't disrupted too much, as the funds from recycling will be needed to subsidise future projects.

A glitch in the system

One of the pleasing things about looking after our recycling centre, in the middle of the Suffolk countryside, is the great views over the fields at the back. Heavy, stormy showers had been forecasted, but these passed us by, which was lucky, because I had a bit of catching up to do on the rubbish front!
After a hot weekend, the aluminium cans were flowing out of their wheelie bin. Old books needed to be rescued and taken home to be sorted. Likewise, the textile bank had clothes mixed in with shoes and other odd items, which all had to be dealt with appropriately.
So where was the glitch?
Well Boltons were not able to pick up the paper last month, as a builder's skip was in the way, so the excess paper has been stored elsewhere. As the banks had been emptied, I had to spend some time retrieving and stuffing paper into them, whilst enjoying the view in the diminishing evening light.
P.S. We got the rain the following day, heavy and thundery. Another sign of global warming-- but that's a much bigger glitch.

Most schools could raise funds by recycling some materials that are usually thrown away, even if storage space is a problem. If you're not able to set up, or have room for recycling banks, then one off collections for textiles and these other materials might be a good idea.

Textiles are quite valuable at the moment, hence the increasing number of charities that have plastic bags delivered to households throughout the country!

Black Country Rags have large lorries for their collections and pay schools for the weight of materials picked up. What's more, they assure me that their business is very environmentally friendly, in that they have recycling banks at their warehouse for plastic, paper and other extraneous items that are part of the collections. They have very little "waste" that end up in landfill sites

Takeback will collect 20 cartridges, free of charge. They take up little room when packed 2 to a box, or even better put them in 2 large boxes. Requests for a collection will usually be dealt with within 24 hours. You need to make sure that your cartridges are on their list before you ask for a collection.

Music Magpie likes people to have 100 CDs/DVDs and games.

Easy for large schools and if you get parents, local businesses and the community involved , these schemes could become mega money-makers for you in the greenest possible way

What's really Important

Whilst the UK's media and population are preoccupied by the activities of our politicians, Friends of the Earth are concentrating on the potentially more devastating and long lasting effects of climate change

Follow the link to sign a petition that will be presented to the World leaders, prior to the Copenhagen conference on climate change in December

Invisibly Bad for You and Me

I’ve just got back from Thassos (relieved guilty feelings by offsetting with the Woodland Trust), knowing that I would return with some photos of beautiful sandy beaches, littered with rubbish, like the one below. There for all to see and do something about!

Which made me start to think about the environmental pollution which can’t be seen, but can still have a damaging effect. I know that I used to wonder if any of the old lead water pipes were still part of the plumbing in the kitchen at school, which was built in 1870. Then there was the ceiling in my classroom, a semi- permanent, prefabricated structure, which was added to the school in 1966. Thoughts of asbestos flitted through my mind, but surely not? Then I had an email from a representative of an asbestos awareness group, who asked if I would be willing mention the hazards of being exposed to asbestos. My knowledge of this is very limited, so, thank you Jack Bleaker for providing the information below.

Asbestos was used in thousands of commercial and consumer products, including ceiling constructions, for many years because it was fire retardant and proved to be a useful insulation component. Unfortunately however, asbestos was also found to cause cancer. Microscopic asbestos fibers, which will often become airborne as their surrounding compounds break down or age, are easily inhaled, often without even knowing. Once in the body, asbestos is associated with the rare cancer mesothelioma, known only to be caused by previous exposure to asbestos. Many would be amazed by how many of these types of products are still found in schools today. Pipe coverings, floor tiles, drywall, and other products that permeate schools all contained asbestos. These are the invisible hazards we may encounter every day.

The Bee's Knees

Teaching children about recycling and caring for our environment in a practical way, can be an ideal introduction to learning about all the issues that will effect on our planet's future. Sustainable use of our dwindling resources and climate change are perhaps the two most urgent problems.

So why the bee photo?
Well, some authorities believe that their global decline is a good indication of worsening environmental conditions.
Why Bee's Knees? (Something outstandingly good)
The Recycling Fund's paperwork has just been returned by our accountants, Larking Gowen. It shows a healthy income of £3,875.27 last year, which is less than previous years, but when you consider the economic slow-down and the amount of waste that we have rescued from landfill sites, it's great!

Rubbish Rubbish Everywhere

Life is full of coincidences. Only a couple of weeks ago I was listening to a program about the steady decline of the water in our seas and oceans. Marine biologist are becoming increasingly concerned about the impact that this has on marine life.
Last week, one of the main news items was about the increase in the amount of rubbish that litters our beaches, washed up by the tides and left by careless day trippers and holiday makers.
Then yesterday, I looked at my daughter’s interesting, environmental blog, which has an invitation to look at a video clip, The Story of Stuff, which I did. A powerful piece, that makes you think beyond re-using, reducing, recycling and filling up our well-loved wheelie bins. This only scratches at the surface of the world’s waste problem.
I wonder how much of the rubbish that is floating around our coast, will eventually end up in the huge mass of plastic and other "stuff" that is floating around in the North Pacific Ocean?