Green Matters
Taught to be greenest
Youngsters from Hackney Free and Parochial beat off strong competition to be named London’s best environmental secondary school.
The capital-wide Archant Environment Awards recognised the variety of innovative projects undertaken by the school to raise awareness of green issues and protect the environment.
The award was collected by teacher and school environmental coordinator, Surjit Vohra, and assistant teacher, Turina Donat, who is heavily involved in green initiatives at the school.
Surjit, who is also part of the Council’s Street Leaders scheme, said: “The school is very committed to tackling environmental issues. The pupils really enjoy taking part in the various projects we run. As well as getting involved in community projects such as litter picking and planting trees, the environment is firmly on the curriculum.
“The school recycles as much as possible and pupils are timetabled to collect materials for recycling.
“We also grow our own organic vegetables. I believe that young people can be motivated in education by involving them in green projects.”
Initiatives which the school has been involved in include National Spring Clean, the Big Tidy Up, Global Action Plan, Alive in Hackney, National Tree Week, Hearts & Minds, gardening projects, National School Grounds Week, Water Project and The Cool Climate.
Other Hackney winners were Hometon based, Children’s Scrap Project, which recycles arts and crafts materials used by schools and nurseries, which won the best recycling project award.
Rupert Kenyon, from Blurton Road, Lower Clapton won the award for most environmental household.
Orange is the new green
The teams who collect Hackney’s recycling have a bright new look that will keep them safe as they work.
The high-visibility jackets are a result of the Council’s partnership with its new recycling contractor, May Gurney, which recently took over from ECT Recycling.
But don’t worry, the same dedicated crews will be picking up residents green boxes, plus collection days and the range of materials that can be left out for collection will remain the same.
Recycling rates are continuing to get better in Hackney. Last year, they exceeded the Government target of 20 per cent. Currently 23 per cent of waste is recycled in Hackney, compared to 6.9 per cent in 2004, and 2.6 per cent in 2003.
Cllr Alan Laing, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, said:
“Recycling rates have really shot up in recent years and they keep getting better. We are continuing to improve and expand services for residents and look forward to working with May Gurney, a proven contractor.”
Door knocking
If you live on an estate, you may get a visit from a recycling promoter over the next couple of months.
A team of 16 people will be out and about visiting residents until the end of January. They will all carry ID badges and wear high visibility jackets with a Recycle for Hackney logo.
The aim of the visits is to get the message out about new recycling services being rolled out across Hackney’s estates.
The team will show residents where the new recycling banks are and answer general questions about the service which allows residents to recycle cardboard and plastic bottles as well as paper, cans and glass.
Street party
Ten years of community volunteering were celebrated at the anniversary event for a pioneering environmental scheme.
Hackney’s Street Leaders group was the first in the country to act as the eyes and ears of the Council when it was set up a decade ago. To mark the occasion the Speaker of Hackney, Cllr Ian Rathbone, held a reception in the Town Hall last month. Street Leaders assist the Council by reporting issues such as flytipping or abandoned cars on a freephone hotline number, and can also help organise blitzes of eyesore areas.
Cllr Rathbone, who helped establish the scheme in 1998, thanked the Street Leaders for their longstanding dedication and hard work to keep the borough clean and tidy.
He said: “It’s an amazing piece of co-operation – the connection that exists between residents and the Council gets the job done.”
Surjit Vohra has been involved with Street Leaders since the beginning, and as a teacher at Hackney Free and Parochial School, also encourages pupils to take an active role in looking after their local environment.
She said: “It’s been good. The older people bring their experience, and the young people bring their ideas, and it brings people together.”
Philippa Kemsley, of Stoke Newington, has been a Street Leader for the past three years. She said: “It’s satisfying when you report something, and things happen quite quickly. I work full-time, and you can do as little or as much as you like.”
More information
To find out more about becoming a Street Leader, call: 020 8356 6688 or email: info@hackney.gov.uk.
Green light for future facilities
A new plan to dispose of Hackney’s waste in a more environmentally friendly way is being considered by the Government.
The North London Waste Authority (NLWA) – which disposes of waste collected in Hackney and six other boroughs – Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey, Islington and Waltham Forest – wants to reduce the reliance on incineration and landfill, and adopt a greener long-term approach.
The aim is that by 2020 the NLWA will meet national and European targets which include increasing recycling by 50 per cent, and cutting the amount of waste sent to landfill from 36 to 15 per cent.
The plans being considered by the Government were approved by NLWA members last month.
They include four new civic amenity sites; two sorting plants for recyclables; facilities for composting and turning waste into biogas to create electricity; two mechanical biological treatment plants to create fuel from waste that can’t be recycled; a combined heat and power plant that uses recovered fuel instead of fossil fuels; and sustainable transport for waste involving rail or water.
The NLWA is working with the seven boroughs to find suitable sites for these new facilities.
NLWA chairman, Clyde Loakes, said: “Prioritising waste prevention, reuse, recycling and recovery will enable us to manage our waste in the most affordable and environmentally friendly way we can. We hope this approach will not only help us reduce north London’s carbon footprint, but will enable us to offer residents the best possible solution for managing waste in the future.”
More information
For further details visit: www.nlondon-waste.gov.uk.
Calling all old mobile phones
With around 450million mobile phones bought worldwide last year, chances are most people have at least one hanging about the house.
Currently 1.5million handsets go to landfill sites every year. Not only do they contain harmful substances such as lead, mercury and cadmium, chucking them out with the rubbish is simply throwing away a chance to make money.
Although you can’t put old phones in your Green Box, National Recycle Your Phone Week in October, highlighted the range of companies that offer cash for old mobiles – love2recycle.com pay an average of £25 per phone.
A number of charities also accept old phones as donations.
They can be dropped off at some charity shops, including Oxfam and Cancer Research branches, or the Red Cross will send a freepost envelope on request.
By recycling an old handset in this way, dangerous components can be safely disposed of, or the phones can be reused in developing countries.
Page updated: 17 Nov 2008