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!

Recycling at its best!

Landfill Harmonic | Juliana Penaranda-Loftus & Alejandra Nash from Focus Forward Films on Vimeo.

Money, Money, Money

All aspects of our recycling fund raising schemes, continue to benefit  Elmsett School. Recently, we have decided to close the recycling account with the Ipswich Building Society and put all the money straight into the School fund.  This will enable the school  access recycling funds as and when they need the money.
We would like to thank Janice Dixon and the staff at Larking Gowen, for doing the recycling accounts, free of charge, for nearly 20 years.
I shall continue to organise the recycling centre.
The closing amount in the recycling fund was £8,656.95  and a cheque for this amount was handed over to the headmistress, Myra Shackleton last week.

It's arrived!

Our tamper-proof textile bank has been delivered by Black Country Rags, so unless the rag raiders attack it with precision metal cutting implements, our textile donations should be safe!
Also--I have the code and can check how much is in the bank. I wonder if other schools  do this? I know that another local small school rarely has much in their bank when BCR makes a collection. It's easy money for the rogue traders!!

Don't bin it, eat it!

My gran would have been astonished by the amount of perfectly good food that the average British family throws away these days (it amounts to 7.2 million tonnes of food and drink a year). Some of it's because shoppers don't make lists and buy too much, some is because consumers don't understand what is or isn't safe to eat, and some of it is because people don't know what to make with it. All of this food waste isn't just a waste of your housekeeping money; it costs a lot of money to dispose of it - £12bn a year - that we pay for through our council taxes.

In this video, two Birmingham chefs show what they can do with some vegetables that fussy shoppers would reject. For more ideas, go to the Love Food, Hate Waste website. If you want to be really thrifty, look for the battered-looking produce that's going cheap at the end of any market day, and buy yourself some bargains to make cheap and easy meals.

Old Knobbley, a tree with a mission.

 My daughter, has just published her first children's book about Old Knobbley, an 800 year old Oak tree,  which is still growing slowly, in a field on the outskirts of Mistley, Essex 

The book tells us about the important events in Old Knobbley's life and Morag has illustrated each stage with detailed, beautifull  drawings. At the end, children are encouraged to collect acorns and grow their own oak trees and help to create an Old Knobley Forest that will live for another 800 years.

So buy the book from Lulu.com and have a go!    Just search for Old Knobbley

                                                 

    

She is an ex-pupil of Elmsett and Hadleigh High School and has always been interested in the environment and knows that planting trees is one of the best ways to slow down the progress of climate change.

Company rescues Can Crushing efforts!

I bought this super, sturdy can crusher from Home Recycling about 8 years ago. Last weekend the black crushing mechanism  on the lid broke. Home Recycling came to the rescue and  the new part was attached  to a cleaned lid, ready for action! 
Our thanks to Chris Hasling and his team. This is a small, successful company, provides an excellent, friendly service. Great!

Green congratulations

Well done everyone at Elmsett School.They have worked really hard on developing their school allotment in an eco-friendly way and have recently been awarded their fourth Green Flag in the Eco-Schools program.  Mrs Shackleton  talked about the school's involvement with the Eco schools scheme during  the final assembly last term and mentioned that the first flag was awarded for setting up and developing the recycling centre

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend, so I was surprised and delighted when my daughter delivered this lovely bouquet and thank you cards from all the pupils.

Doggy bags when you're eating out?

If you've paid for it, why waste it? I often ask for a doggy bag. The more we do it, the less we waste and the more it becomes normal.