|
Environment conscious residents from a dementia care home did their bit to keep a stretch of Dorset coastline clean and safe. Four residents, accompanied by 3 care staff, traveled from Ferndown’s Colton Care Fernhill in Longham to carry out a beach clean at Swanage. Made the trip to supportGreat British Beach Clean Week, an initiative of the Marine Conservation Society.
0 Comments
The Wimborne Minster Bunting & Bags team have handed out over 150 Boomerang Bags to their independent shops in Wimborne. The upcycled, reusable, plastic free Boomerang Bags have been made from curtain fabric donated by the community. More than 350 Bags have been handed over to the Wimborne Food Bank users, with the purpose of reducing single use plastic. Wimborne Minster Town Council were thanked for their support.
In a project carried out by DEED, along with Wimborne War on Waste and supported by Litter Free Dorset, artist Claire Nuttall painted two drains with artwork designed and created by Year 12 graphic students at QE School.
The project aims to highlight that throwing cigarette butts down drains can wash up and pollute the sea and poison fish and so encourage people to no longer discard their cigarettes in this way. The Prime Minister has announced the police will now have the power to give tougher penalties when they are dealing with fly-tipping offences.
The announcement comes after Dorset’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), David Sidwick joined with his counterparts for Avon and Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, Gloucestershire, and Wiltshire to pen a letter to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs calling for tougher sanctions to tackle the 'growing menace' of fly-tipping. This was picked up by the National Rural Crime Network and other PCCs who supported the initiative. The five PCCs lobbied the government to do more to deter fly-tipping which has become the anti-social behaviour of both urban areas and the countryside. The group said that 'greater coordination' and 'tougher penalties' are needed in order to meet the Government target of eradicating waste crime by 2043 - stating that it's time 'criminals pay for fly-tipping, not taxpayers'. Now, the government has announced they are raising the minimum fine for the offence from £400 up to £1000. The government said that the increase in fines will give the enforcement agencies involved the tools they need to act. The changes will also see additional support given to local authorities to enable them to hand out more fines to ‘disrespectful offenders’, a league table for local authorities based on fly-tipping performance and a change in the law removing the need to have the regulator present when a police officer seizes a vehicle unlawfully carrying waste. Ethical cosmetics retailer Lush, has invested £2.3 million in its new Green Hub in Poole, expanding and reinforcing its commitment to the circular economy.
The Green Hub is a building that showcases Lush’s commitment to and investment in finding solutions for materials that could be considered as waste. With six core teams working together at the Green Hub, Lush is creating circular economies, working to close the loop on packaging and water waste, and find solutions to reuse, repurpose, repair and recycle materials from across their business. Lush has operated a Green Hub facility since 2015, and recognising the potential of an in house location dedicated to waste management, the brand invested £2.3m in relocating to and refitting its new 40,000 sq ft premises on the Fleets Corner Business Park. With a building three times the size of its previous location, the capabilities of the Green Hub for processing and reinventing waste have upscaled and expanded. Key functions of the new Green Hub include: granulating plastic as part of the brand’s closed loop Bring it Back recycling scheme; treating wastewater from their manufacturing and laundry processes; repairing machinery to prevent purchasing new; and donating surplus products and lifestyle items to charities and grassroots groups across the country. In 2022, from the new location, Lush was able to recycle 81% of its UK Manufacturing waste, repair over 700 electrical items and donate more than 107,000 products and lifestyle items to those in need. In 2023, with the Green Hub running at its full capacity the capabilities are only set to grow. Using their PET and PPE plastic granulators, the Green Hub team will be able to process 20 tonnes of plastic per week in a closed loop, while the DAF water treatment unit will bring Lush’s wastewater treatment process in-house, processing 500 tonnes of dirty water each year and preventing the need to transport wastewater off-site. As well as taking responsibility for its own waste, Lush wants to encourage and join others in finding solutions to waste problems. The Green Hub will be the first space the brand will be opening to the public on its UK Manufacturing campus, with a schedule of events, workshops and community engagement opportunities designed to allow for environmental focused education and collaboration between local and national businesses, councils, schools and community groups. 8,000 disposable barbecues to be dismantled and recycled in Dorset after devastating heathland fires20/4/2023 8,000 disposable barbecues, that were removed from sale following last year's devastating heathland fires, are to be dismantled and recycled in Dorset.
Litter Free Dorset is hosting the event today (20 April) and the component parts will be recycled by W&S, the recycling contractor for Dorset and BCP Councils. The six tonnes of charcoal will be transported to Swanage Railway to be used in the Steam Train. Emma Teasdale, Litter Free Dorset Coordinator said: "Disposable Barbecues pose a grave danger to Dorset’s natural environment and wildlife; they are also single-use and incredibly wasteful. Of course we want people to enjoy their summer and make the most of our beautiful county, but this should not be at the cost of the environment. "We are asking people to make the change by avoiding single-use items including disposable barbecues, and to look for reusable alternatives." Southern Co-op has permanently removed disposable barbecues from sale. Mark Smith, Chief Executive of Southern Co-op said: "Sadly we have witnessed the devastating impact that disposable barbecues can have to both people and wildlife if they are not disposed of responsibly. Removing them from sale was an important move to protect our local wildlife and ecosystems as part of our longstanding commitment to reduce our impact on the environment." The summer of 2022 was one of the hottest on record, and the driest since 1976, and Dorset & Wiltshire Fire Service attended 123 heathland fires across the county during last year. Dorset Council and LitterLotto have joined forces to launch a new initiative aimed at tackling littering and rewarding citizens who are doing their part to keep the area looking glorious. The partnership will see users of the LitterLotto app in Dorset given the opportunity to win an additional £100 each month, on top of the £1,000 weekly jackpot and spot prizes already available.
LitterLotto, the innovative app that uses gamification to encourage citizens to dispose of litter properly and has been making waves in the fight against littering. The app allows users to keep tabs on the amount of litter they dispose of as well as a chance to win a prize on each submission. Each entry also goes into the draw for the weekly and month jackpots. The scheme was launched in Dorset last year and has already seen local residents win cash prizes. Simon, a keen litter picker and local Sherborne resident, recently won £100 by using the LitterLotto app. The partnership between Dorset Council and LitterLotto is a testament to the council’s commitment to using technology and innovation to tackle the issue of littering. The addition of the monthly £100 prize for users in Dorset is an extra incentive for people to do their part in keeping the area litter-free. LitterLotto has already been successful in incentivising litter picking and promoting responsible waste disposal. The app has received positive feedback from users, who have praised the experience as both fun and rewarding. The app’s unique approach to tackling littering has made it a popular choice among individuals and organisations looking to make a difference. A new European research project will enable consumers to find and buy local food supplies, reducing waste and supporting sustainable purchases.
The FoodMAPP project – being led in the UK by Bournemouth University (BU) – will develop a searchable map-based platform that will enable consumers to search and buy food products directly from local suppliers. Currently within Europe food is transported, on average, 171km from farm to fork. 26 per cent of global carbon emissions come from food and large volumes of food are wasted. The FoodMAPP project aims to address these challenges by enabling consumers to identify and purchase local sources of food in real time to shorten supply chains and reduce food waste, while also providing additional sustainable income to food producers and providers. A consortium of European partners, comprising academic partners in Croatia, Hungary, Spain and Belgium and industry partners in France & Austria will support the project. BU’s involvement in FoodMAPP will be led by Associate Professor Jeff Bray and supported by an interdisciplinary research team from across the university including Professor Katherine Appleton, Professor Juliet Memery, Dr Roberta Discetti and Dr Vegard Engen. From 20 March on-the-spot fines will be introduced across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole to help tackle the environmental crime of littering.
If an individual is caught littering in Bournemouth, Christchurch or Poole, an enforcement officer from Waste Investigations Support and Enforcement (WISE) will serve a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) of £150, which will be reduced to £75 if paid within 14 days. WISE has been awarded the contract to carry out littering enforcement across the BCP area. The contract is cost-neutral to the council. It will see a percentage of each fine issued paid to BCP Council to be reinvested into littering prevention services. FPNs can be issued for dropping litter of any kind, including sweet wrappers, crisp packets, chewing gum, cigarette butts and discarded items from vehicles. Councillor Bobbie Dove, Portfolio Holder for Community Safety and Regulatory Services, said: “This new approach is a direct and proactive response to the feedback we’ve received from residents who are tired of seeing people littering in this beautiful part of the country. Littering is a crime, and I’m saddened that a small minority of people think it is acceptable to drop litter across our town and district centres, greenspaces and beaches. “We know more about our impact on the environment than ever before, and that’s why we must take a stronger stance to protect our local area. We know that small items of rubbish, like crisp packets and plastic bottles, take decades to decompose and leave toxins in the ground for many years after. We need to protect the BCP region for future generations, so we hope that issuing fines will be a strong deterrent to those who think it acceptable to drop litter.” More than 40 volunteers from the Wimborne Community enjoyed the sunshine last weekend and helped pick up the biggest amount of litter we have ever collected in 2 hours on one of our picks! It was shocking to see and we could have easily spent the whole day clearing rubbish along verges, underneath bushes, on streets, paths and the river banks! The worst offenders were cigarette butts - we lost count of those in town, especially outside pubs, bus stops, and other venues where people gather then drop their butts as they rush in! Plastic cable ties, dog poo bags and general single use items such as bottles, takeaway food containers and coffee cups were also abundant!
While we really do enjoy getting together to do something positive for the planet, our group of litter pickers has asked WWoW to ask you, the good folk of Wimborne, to do your bit too! Can you put a cigarette bin/ash tray outside your business for your customers to use? Can you use string instead of plastic cable ties to put up your posters/banners or sign boards instead? Can you do a 2-minute litter pick in your break outside your house or business? The more we keep our place clean and free from litter the easier it becomes to imagine a litter free Wimborne! We enjoy running regular litter picks - and welcome everyone to join us! We also lend out litter picking equipment if anyone wishes to do their own! For more information and to add your name to our email group please contact us at: [email protected] The date for the next one is 26 March 11-1pm. |
please noteThis page contains an archive of news from 2023 which can be sorted by date or subject area. For the latest news please go to this page. Archives
December 2023
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed