People and Planet Stall promoting Recycling at St Faith’s Fair June 2024
Who are the People and Planet group?
We are a group at St Faith’s Church, Lee-on-the-Solent, dedicated to reducing the church’s carbon footprint and improving care for our planet. People and Planet group encourages uptake of eco-friendly options in our buildings, lifestyles and church grounds. Early in the group’s foundation, a small recycling hub was set up in the church. Also two members joined the local branch of Friends of the Earth, to gain knowledge and in a small way to support the wider green community.
Luckily Gosport’s Great Big Green Week 2024 coincided with St. Faith’s Church Summer Fair – a chance to work for two fantastic organisations in one go by running a stall.
What was the Stall about?
The theme for GGBGW was ‘Swapping’. Ouch! A bit of a challenge but inspiration hit with the idea of recycling being a way of swapping rubbish for varied untold benefits. Recycling can be a very dull topic and chore. However after completing the Stall’s ‘Swap Challenge’ I hope many people now view it differently.
We already have some mutually beneficial systems in existence in Lee. For example ….. our local Bookshop recycles white plastic milk bottle tops and Home Flair Hardware Shop recycles batteries. Once over the threshold of these shops (with your recycling) it is very easy to spy something interesting to buy - Win/Win Big Swap situation. We also have Eco freaks in Lee. There you can refill your empty home- use plastic bottles with the likes of eco-friendly shampoo, washing up liquid, fabric softener etc etc – kind to your skin, lungs and less plastic into landfill.
Also there are quite a few ‘Swap rubbish for charity’ opportunities. Both St. Faiths and the Lee Bookshop are collection points for old printer ink cartridges. Proceeds go to help run the community I Can Go mini buses. St Faith’s also collect bread bags and cheese wrappers through the Teracycle scheme which earns money for growing pollinator friendly plants in the church grounds and in future for funding tree planting in Africa. Aluminium foil collected at St Faith’s goes to another church project in Fareham. Proceeds go to help a charity for people with additional needs.
As most people love quizzes the stall was based on challenging people to show off their own knowledge of local recycling opportunities. The challenge was to match pictures or objects to photos of actual local collection points. It was quite interactive and competitors also contributed their additional local knowledge with us. Below is the updated People and Planet group poster of local collecting points. Of course the list has to be frequently updated but please print off your own copy should you wish. Eco Freaks also receive various articles for recycling https://ecofreaksuk.com
To the recycling mantra of ‘reduce,reuse,recycle’ we added ‘repurpose’ by including details of the Gosport Chaplaincy Team certified bike mechanic. He will repair your bike and donate his charge to charity or repair your unwanted bike and donate it to someone in need. (07986 844672)
Grateful thanks go to Friends of the Earth colleagues who stepped across to help run the stall when we were overstretched.
Sandra Abrams on behalf of People and Planet group.
MORE LOCATIONS TO RECYCLE |
Did you know the following places take these items for recycling?
Aluminium Foil collected at St Faith’s Church and at the Catholic Church (Bells Lane, Stubbington, back of car park).
Batteries collected at Home Flair in Lee-on-the-Solent High Street.
Dental Care Products collected at St Faith’s Church and at Eco Freaks in Lee-on-the-Solent.
Duvets collected at Dunelm, 172-174 Southampton Road Titchfield, PO14 4QL.
Electrical Items, such as, toasters, TV’s, computers, etc collected at Currys PC World (Park Gate) (even if they haven’t been bought there).
Empty Medicine Blister Packs collected at Superdrug (Fareham).
Furniture collected by Jacob's Well, Toronto Place, Gosport, PO12 4UZ (Telephone: 023 9258 3050)
Make Up Containers, Beauty, Wellness and Healthcare collected at Boots (Fareham).
Milk Bottle Tops collected at Lee-on-the-Solent Bookshop.
Plastic Bags and Wrapping baby, pet food, detergent and cleaning pouches, biscuits and chocolate wrapping, bread bags, bubble wrap and cling film, cereal liners, cheese fish and meat wrapping, crisp and sweet bags collected at Co-op (Stubbington).
Plastic Containers, such as, margarine tubs and food trays collected at Sainsbury’s (Broadcut Fareham).
Plastic Plant Pots collected at Stewarts Abbey Garden Centre (Mill Lane, Titchfield), Garsons Garden Centre (Fontley Road, Titchfield) and B&Q.
Plastic Pumps, such as, soap pumps soap pumps, plastic pouches, pipettes, lip gloss tubes, mascaras & small bottles less than 50ml collected at Bodyshop (Fareham).
Postage Stamps collected at Lee-on-the-Solent Bookshop.
Printer Ink Cartridges collected at St Faith’s Church, Lee-on-the-Solent Bookshop and Lee Press, Innovation Centre.
Tetrapaks collected at Tesco Havant Extra (Solent Road, Havant, PO9 1TR).
Finally consider using Freecycle for items you you want to give away or you want to collect. Contact your local Freecycle group at www.freecycle.org