Dr Fixit
The more we buy and send to landfill, the greater our carbon footprint becomes. To help local people recycle things which might otherwise go into landfill, Dr John Barker has offered to help. He can repair small things like strimmers, bicycles, and small electrical items. There is a small charge for the service which is split between Martholme Greenway and REG.
In addition to helping us recycle, John has volunteered to run workshops on how to repair simple everyday equipment.
Did you know that we are running out of places to put our rubbish in the UK and some of our rubbish travels across the world to be dumped in other countries? This is why reusing, recycling and reducing the amount of stuff we buy is so important.
Plastic is fantastic! Where would we be without it? The problem is that too much of it ends up as litter on our streets and in our oceans.
SUPs include items such as plastic drink bottles, milk containers, straws, plastic cutlery and margarine tubs.
By stopping using SUPs we can improve the health of the local and wider environment. We can improve our own health too, as micro and nano plastics are now being found in human bodies.
Soft Plastic
This is most of the plastic wrapping your food and household goods are packaged in.
Check out https://www.coop.co.uk/environment/soft-plastics
These items are not soft plastics: bottles, trays, compostable carrier bags, pet food bags with aluminium lining.
After starting a soft plastics’ collection point in the Village Hall, we were overwhelmed with the amount brought in! We now ask people to take their soft plastic recycling to the local supermarkets instead. However, we still collect medicine blister packs.
We are encouraging our primary schools and local businesses to take up our Plastic Free Initiative. The aim is to make Read and Simonstone free of SUPs, thus doing ‘our bit’ for the planet. Why not try a ‘Plastic Free Month’ this year? You may even be able to continue this further so it becomes a habit for your household.
