June 2009 Archives

You recycle your carrier bags and turn off the TV at night, but how far would you go to really make a difference to the planet?

Eight streets around the country - all with the word Green in their names - spent the past year being as eco-friendly as possible in a bid to win thousands for local projects.

British Gas selected them from hundreds of entries and the AVERAGE street reduced its domestic energy use by 25%. The winning street, Green Lane in Leeds, saved a THIRD of its power, bagging £50,000 in funding.

Fear that your recycling travels by ship to the Far East and then dies a toxic death somewhere in China? With new figures showing that 90% of the UK's recycling is actually done in the UK, Kate Hodal follows the contents of our own green box to see just where they go - and what they turn into.

Fact or myth? Most of our recycling waste, which you meticulously separate before it's picked up by the council, ends up being sent to Shanghai and sold back to us as televisions and stationery.

It's a popular theory, and indeed some of our waste does go to China.

However, more than 90% of the glass bottles, cans, cardboard, paper and plastics collected in our green boxes are recycled here in Britain.

HEADTEACHERS in Cheshire could wipe a massive £1m off school energy bills by making their schools more efficient, the Carbon Trust announced.

Reducing energy wastage would also reduce Cheshire schools' carbon dioxide emissions by 7,000 tonnes.

"Headteachers, parents and governors alike are always seeking ways to make the school budget go further. Cutting energy use is a highly effective way to free-up those funds, while engaging the school community in the fight against climate change," said Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust.

Garden Village Playgroup had reason to celebrate after winning a top prize at a Llangollen gardening event.

The group won first prize in Wrexham Early Education Team's Playgroups and Private Day Nurseries competition at The Gardening Show, which was held at the Llangollen Pavilion earlier this month.

The competition required the participants to make a garden ornament or a planted container using recycled or re-used materials.

The winning entry was 'Pepsi', a model tortoise made of used drinks cans.

A PROPOSAL to install an automated self-powered steel sculpture in the form of a gigantic flower, which will dominate Widnes Waterfront, has been given the all-clear.

Members of Halton's development control committee approved a planning application for the 15m-tall artwork at Widnes Warth, which is likely to cost £125,000.

The dynamic structure will feature perforated metal petals which will glow in different colours as they flutter in the breeze.

The sculpture's lighting will be powered by in-built wind turbines.

Designer Anna Liu, director of design agency Tonkin Liu, who was selected by Widnes Waterfront bosses after a six-month search, believes the structure will become an art work of 'regional significance'.

PROJECTS encouraging waste reduction, re-use or recycling are available for community groups in Shropshire.

Grants of up to £3000 are now available via Shropshire Community Recycling Ltd (SCRL) - the body funded by Shropshire Council to help encourage recycling. The deadline for applications is June 26.

Preference will be given to projects which fulfil some or all of the following criteria:

Involve tangible practical activity i.e. implementation not research.

Reflect the waste hierarchy.

PLANS to introduce fortnightly bin collections in Sandbach, Middlewich and Holmes Chapel have been rubber stamped for August.

Plans to collect household and recyclable waste on alternate weeks were approved by Cheshire East Council's cabinet.

The scheme has faced opposition from residents who feel it will leave streets looking and smelling like dumps over the summer.

BANNERS in opposition to the controversial wind farm plans at Bickerton have been stolen.

Campaigners are furious after six two-metre signs, costing £25 each, were taken from residents' gardens across the village.

Members of protest group Stop Bickerton Wind Turbines are unhappy as the signs, which have the slogan 'say no to wind turbines' emblazoned on them, were paid for by money taken from their campaign fundraising pot.

THREE new waste transfer stations constructed at Ellesmere Port, Macclesfield and Crewe have been annnced as part of a new strategy to treat residual household waste.

Two major companies bidding to manage the treatment of Cheshire's household waste for the next quarter of a century announced their proposed locations.

Viridor and Resource Recovery Solutions (Cheshire Ltd) (a partnership between United Utilities and Interserve) have been short listed by Cheshire's Councils to compete for the £850m Private Finance Initiative contract.

An environmentally-friendly washing machine developed in Britain that uses only one cup of water to clean clothes could be on sale next year.

The appliance, which could save billions of litres of water a year, has been developed at the University of Leeds.

It uses less than 10 per cent of the water of conventional machines and 30 per cent less energy by replacing most of the water with thousands of tiny reusable plastic beads to attract and absorb dirt under humid conditions.