Here are a few New Year’s resolutions to help everyone get into the habit of reducing waste:

• Reduce your waste – buy only what you need and try to buy with little packaging.
• Reuse what you can – buy products that can be reused (rechargeable batteries, bottles instead of cans etc), take old carrier bags or reusable bags with you when you go shopping and use cleaned bottles and jars to store odds and ends in. Donate your old clothes and books to charity shops.
• Recycle as much as you can – and buy products with recycled content. Use our current recycling service and bring sites to recycle things.
• Donate your furniture – if you’re looking to replace your fridge or freezer this year but it’s still in working order, don’t throw it away; donate it to the Surrey Reuse Network instead. Check out Furnistore, a furniture re-use charity, who are based in Redhill.
• Look out for details over the coming months of what you can recycle as part of the Council’s new recycling and refuse collection service, which will collect more materials from your home, and pledge to recycle more when it starts.

For more information, please visit the Borough Council’s new recycling and refuse collection service page or scan the links on the right for relevant local websites.

Pupils from schools across the borough were awarded for their environmental artwork at a special ceremony held at the Harlequin Theatre on 12 November.

Primary and infant schools were invited to enter an Eco Art competition as part of the Council’s Environment Campaign with Horley Town Council. Pupils were asked to demonstrate awareness of environmental issues through a theme of environment and ecology.

Artwork was submitted from Aberdour School, Bramley Junior & Infants, Chinthurst School, Manorfield Primary & Nursery School, Kingswood Primary School, Meath Green Junior & Infant Schools, Royal Alexander & Albert School, Salfords Primary School, Walton on the Hill Primary School and Horley Infant School.

Mayor of Reigate & Banstead, Cllr Brian Stead and Mayor of Horley Town Council, Cllr Simon Marshall awarded first, second and third place winners from each school with certificates and monetary prizes.

Five schools were picked from a draw to receive water butts donated by Sutton and East Surrey Water for the competition.

Cllr Allen Kay, Executive Member for Clean Communities, said:

“The pupils’ artwork was scored on its eco message and artistry.  The posters entered were so good right across the board that our judges had great difficulty in awarding the top three places for each school. Congratulations to the schools and pupils for their splendid efforts.”

The competition inspired Meath Green Junior School to create an impressive 15 metre mural of colourful eco art.  The pupils spent the whole day enthusiastically painting the best pictures from the competition onto one of their school building walls.

The competition artwork has been made into a calendar and the schools have been given 50 copies free of charge that they can sell to raise funds.

See the following document for the advertising poster:  FURNISTORE SALE Nov 26th 2011 (1)

In summary:

FURNISTORE

PRE-CHRISTMAS SALE

26^TH November

10.00am – 4.00pm

50% OFF EVERYTHING

(EXCEPT WHITE GOODS)

HOT DRINKS AND CAKES AVAILABLE

East Surrey MP, Sam Gyimah added his signature to the borough’s Environment Campaign in Horley last week, as the campaign drew to a close.

He was joined for the signing in Waitrose by the Council’s Chief Executive, John Jory, Mayor of Reigate & Banstead, Cllr Stead, Mayor of Horley Town Council, Cllr Marshall and Cllrs Knight, Powell and Spratt.

Horley was the last leg of the joint borough wide initiative with Horley Town Council to encourage people to make a pledge to reduce their environmental impact.

In Horley alone over 1100 people declared they will be greener, bringing the total number of pledges to over 2100 since the campaign began in June.

“This has been the most successful area of our campaign so far,” said Cllr Allen Kay, Executive Member for Clean Communities. “It’s been a fantastic week and we have been very well received by the community.

“I’d like to thank Waitrose for allowing us to use their store and donating reusable bags. I’d also like to extend my gratitude to all the other local businesses who have backed our campaign.”

Speaking on behalf of the implementation team, Cllr Powell said:

“This year’s campaign has been really great, not only from the 2100 people we have engaged with and the many more pledges they have made, but also in respect of the 200 plus hours of voluntary community engagement time given by councillors. We wish to thank them for making the campaign possible.”

Sponsors of the Borough-wide Environment Campaign this year include:

*          ASDA

*          Britaniacrest Recycling Ltd

*          MAD Ideas Ltd

*          Morrisons

*          Pellikaan Construction

*          Sutton and East Surrey Water

*          Waitrose

Surrey County Council has asked for comments on plans to recycle more building waste in the county.

Over 300 people took part in the Borough’s Environment Campaign as it hit the streets of Redhill over the past week.

The campaign is a partnership with Horley Town Council to encourage people to make a pledge to reduce their environmental impact.  So far, over 1000 people have pledged to take simple steps to be greener at events across the Borough – you can make the pledge online right now.

Councillors including David Powell, Richard Bethall (both from Horley Town Council), Julian Ellacott, Mayor of Reigate & Banstead, Brian Stead, Rita Renton, Rois Amiah, Graham Knight, Alex Horwood and Jonathan Essex were on hand to speak with shoppers in Redhill town centre.

Residents visiting the stand were particularly interested in the Council’s extension to the recycling service, announced last month (see our article on the subject:  http://www.redhillcouncillors.co.uk/2011/08/surrey-achieves-50-recycling-rate-and-local-council-approves-extended-recycling-service/), with the vast majority expressing support for the plans.

Cllr Allen Kay, Executive Member for Clean Communities, who also attended the event said:

“It was great to get such a positive response from people in the area.  We even happened to bump into the Mayor of Lagny-sur-Marne, a suburb in Paris. She was really keen to fill in a pledge form and take it back to France with her.

“I’d like to thank Sainsbury’s in Redhill for allowing us to use their store and donating reusable bags for the campaign.”

Make your pledge now

You can help the borough to be greener by pledging to make a small change in your daily life. Make an online pledge now or pick up a pledge form at the next Environment Campaign events:

• Waitrose, Banstead and Banstead Woods Countryside Day: 5 – 11 September
• Horley town centre: 24 – 30 September

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council has provided an update on its energy efficiency work, which is also adding significantly to its cost saving efforts (and hence reduced pressure on Council Tax).  The main areas of savings, most of which can be followed by residents, are as follows:

LED lighting

We are one of the first local authorities in the country to use LED lighting on a large scale. The installation of LED lighting in our multi storey car parks has led us to use 50% less energy in them than compared to two years ago.

The expected life of an LED lamp is more than 50,000 hours – even if kept on all the time it is unlikely that it will need to be replaced for six years. LED lighting is available online and in many electrical stores.

Voltage optimiser

Using a voltage optimiser has helped to cut energy at the Town Hall by over 11%. The device works by lowering the incoming electricity voltage to 220 volts, instead of the normal 240 volts.

It is also available for your home and can slash domestic electricity bills by 10%. Find out more about voltage optimisers through VO4HOME or VPhase websites.

Timer switch

Energy usage in our Help Shops has fallen by more than 25% just by timing when the heaters are turned on.

Whether you are a large organisation or small home, turning appliances off when they are not needed is still one of the simplest and cheapest ways to save energy and money.

Eon is offering people a free power down plug (Eon website). It saves you money on energy bills by eliminating ‘standby’ on any boxes connected to it (Sky, consoles etc). So when you switch off your TV, they go off too.

For more tips, visit the Energy Saving Trust website.

A greener borough

Cllr Allen Kay, Executive Member for Clean Communities, said:

“The Council has a target to reduce its CO2 emissions by 30% by 2014.  We are committed to having a greener borough and our recent achievements reflect this. We are working hard to improve our energy efficiency and sustainability and will continue to run initiatives to meet our target.”

Environment Campaign

To encourage residents to think about being more environmentally friendly, we are running an Environment Campaign in partnership with Horley Town Council.

So far, over 900 people have pledged to take simple steps to be greener at our events across the borough.

Visit the Environment Campaign page and make your pledge now.

Cutting edge technology

Most of the heating and hot water for the new Horley Leisure Centre will come from a wood fuel boiler, supplied with over 400 tonnes of wood chip sourced from Surrey/Sussex woodlands.

A 22KW photovoltaic system will also adorn its roof to generate over 20,000 kilowatt-hours of clean, renewable electricity each year.

Reducing carbon and costs

Cllr Kay added:

“We are doing the right thing for both the environment and our finances.  Continuous improvements are being made in reducing carbon across almost all of our service delivery.

“We are also looking at the feasibility of installing further green technology at our leisure centres and across the wider estate.”

Renewable heating grant

The government are offering grants for households to install renewable heating systems. Find out more about the Renewable Heat Premium Payment and Renewable Heat Incentive on the Energy Saving Trust website.

View more information about the Council’s energy performance.

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council and Guildford Borough Council have joined forces to get the best financial deal for the paper and card collected from local people for recycling.  The two Councils are the biggest in Surrey, with over 250,000 residents between them.

The deal, which started in July with UPM, means that the extra cash can be used to reduce the cost of waste and recycling services for both councils. The two year agreement is expected to generate additional income of £1.5 to £2millon for the two Councils over the course of the contract.

Cllr Allen Kay, Executive Member for Clean Communities said:

“We are really pleased to be working with Guildford to make these savings. We are always seeking to do better for less and despite the financial pressures, will continue to maintain our services to a high standard.  Residents can help us to reduce costs by supporting our paper recycling, either through our kerbside collection service or using the recycling bring sites.”

Cllr Julian Ellacott, Redhill Councillor, said:

“Paper and card are valuable materials, and by offering the material jointly with Guildford we have improved our negotiating strength, achieving a higher price.  This means that we can offset some of the other financial pressures facing us over the next few years, and is also a solid platform for the extended recycling service which will be introduced next year.”

Cllr Nick Sutcliffe, Lead Councillor for Environmental Services at Guildford Borough Council, adds:

“By working together we have secured a competitive price for paper that will lead to a saving of £1 million for Guildford Borough Council over the two year contract.  We, like many others, face a challenging financial future and we are committed to finding ways to improve services and reduce the costs to taxpayers.”

The deal is one example of the joint working that is being developed by the Surrey Waste Partnership (SWP). The SWP consists of all the county, district and borough councils, and aims to manage Surrey’s waste in the most efficient, economic and sustainable way possible.

Notes

The paper collected is sold to a company, UPM, who then recycle it and produce clean, reusable paper which is used to produce newspapers and other products.

The Surrey waste Partnership is a partnership of the 12 councils in the county. Together they are committed to saving money and improving waste services for people in Surrey.

All the Surrey Waste Partnership authorities have adopted their joint ‘Plan for Waste Management’, committing them to work towards a world class service with an ambitious target of 70% recycling by 2013/2014.

Partnership projects include work on composting, junk mail, mixed plastics and ‘bring’ recycling sites. Initial savings and benefits are starting to materialise, for example an anticipated £200,000 annual saving in garden waste processes for the SWP partners.

For more information visit www.surreywastepartnership.org.uk.

Surrey has achieved a 50% recycling rate for household waste almost a decade ahead of schedule.

A Government target requires councils to recycle at least half their household waste by 2020, which means Surrey is nine years ahead of time.

The green milestone was reached thanks to the willingness of residents and councils to recycle rubbish instead of simply throwing it into landfill. This benefits the environment and saves Surrey taxpayers millions of pounds a year in reduced landfill costs*.

Efforts that helped to increase recycling include:

• Improving community recycling centres to make it easier to recycle waste, including extending opening hours

• Increasing the variety of waste that can be recycled

• Teaming up with organisations that find a new home for people’s unwanted furniture and other household goods

• Working with district and borough councils to collect food waste separately

Dr Lynne Hack, Surrey County Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, and councillor for Redhill, said:

“Achieving a 50% recycling rate required a lot of hard work by residents and Surrey councils, so we should all be proud of this achievement.

“As well as benefiting the environment, recycling saves Surrey taxpayers millions of pounds a year because we don’t have to pay to send the waste to landfill. Despite the success we’re certainly not going to rest on our laurels.”

The county council is now focused on reaching a 70% household waste recycling rate by 2014. This will be achieved in a number of ways, including further improving community recycling centres, working to identify more materials that can be recycled and educating people about the benefits of recycling.

It will also be significantly helped by Reigate & Banstead Borough’s approval of an extended household recycling service from 2012, which will mean that glass, plastics and food waste will be collected and recycled from people’s houses.  Once introduced, the service will consist of:

• weekly food waste collection – specially designed lockable food caddy (plus a small caddy for kitchen)
• weekly paper and card collection using the existing black box
• alternate weekly collection of plastics, glass and cans in a wheeled bin
• alternate weekly residual waste collection using the existing wheeled bin
• garden waste collection (for those who subscribe to the fortnightly service).

For those who do not want the materials collected from their home, most if not all of the existing recycling banks will remain.  The scheme will be introduced for houses in 2012 and for flats from 2013 onwards.

* Sending Surrey’s waste to landfill costs taxpayers £600,000 every month in taxes alone.

To find out more about recycling visit www.surreycc.gov.uk and search for ‘waste and recycling’.

To find out more about the new Borough Council service, visit www.reigate-banstead.gov.uk.

For information on how to reduce the amount of food waste you produce visit www.lovefoodsurrey.com.

To find out more about Surrey’s home composting and furniture reuse campaigns visit www.surreywastepartnership.org.uk.

Epsom and Ewell MP and Employment Minister, Chris Grayling, visited the Town Hall last week to give his backing to the Council’s Environment Campaign.

The campaign is being run in partnership with Horley Town Council and encourages people to make a green pledge to reduce their environmental impact. So far, over 700 people have pledged to take simple steps to be greener at our events across the borough.

Mr Grayling is the second MP to back the Environment Campaign. Crispin Blunt, MP for the Reigate constituency, visited an event in Burgh Heath during the campaign’s launch week last month. Mr Grayling showed his support by signing our campaign board.

Executive Member for Clean Communities, Cllr Kay said:

“We are really pleased to have Chris Grayling’s support today. The campaign has gained lots of interest so far from local businesses and schools. We are keen to continue running more community events over the summer.”

During his visit, Mr Grayling was also briefed on the Council’s Young Workers Scheme – an initiative that has given 16 youngsters a foot on the employment ladder.

Make your pledge now

You can help the borough to be greener by pledging to make a small change in your daily life – complete the online pledge.
Make an online pledge now or pick up a pledge form at your nearest Environment Campaign event:

Sainsbury’s, Redhill: 11 – 20 August
Banstead and Banstead Woods Countryside Day: 5 – 11 September
Horley town centre: 24 – 30 September