Swap shop time again

Are you thinking of having a spring clear out? Got any clothes, books, toys or small furniture you no longer need? Do you want to swap your old novels for some new kitchenware?

Why not come along to our Give or Take day this Saturday (19 March) at West Parley Village Hall from 9.30am to noon.

These events are a great way to get rid of any good quality items you no longer want and perhaps pick up something you do. Plus it’s free – you don’t even need to bring anything along.

You’ll also be helping the environment by preventing useable items from ending up in landfill sites. Re-use savvy residents of Weymouth, Portland and West Dorset saved over 1.2 tonnes of unwanted items from going to landfill at a Give or Take day in Chickerell (opens in new window) earlier this year – let’s see if we can do the same or better this Saturday.

Give or take time in Alderholt

Looking for some furniture? Got some books you no longer want? Want to swap some dvds for kitchenware? Then come along to our Give or Take day at Alderholt Village Hall this Saturday (9 October) from 9.30am to noon.

This community waste exchange event is a chance for you to get rid of any reusable items you don’t need and pick up something you do. And it’s all free!

By re-using things instead of throwing them away, we save on landfill space, reduce fly tipping and help to save valuable resources.

First recycling winner

Fantastic new, Mrs Taylor from Cuthbury Gardens is our first Recycle for Wimborne winner. Mrs Taylor has received a prize of £50, to be spent in shops in Wimborne Minster, simply for recycling correctly using the kerbside green bag and box scheme.

Mrs Taylor said, ‘I am delighted to have won, I didn’t even know about the competition, I was just putting my materials out for recycling as usual so it was a great surprise when I got a knock at the door!

“I’m a keen recycler and composter and really believe that everyone should make an effort to reduce their waste and help future generations enjoy the same environment we have.’

The competition continues throughout August, so all Wimborne residents still stand a chance of winning, as long as they recycle correctly. Find out more here.

Tap water challenge makes a splash in Wimborne

Great news, more than 250 visitors dared to take our tap water challenge at the Wild about Wimborne event last weekend.

Confirming that tap water tastes just as good as bottled, less than half of the people who took the challenge could taste the difference between tap and bottled water. Even the majority of those that did get it right commented that they are more likely to drink tap water because buying bottled is expensive.

The next challenge is taking place in Christchurch on 3 August – how many local people will guess correctly here?

Did you know?

• 2.7 million tonnes of plastic are used to bottle water each year
• Only 10 per cent of water bottles are recycled – the rest go to landfill
• Providing bottled water for British consumers produces an estimated 33,200 tonnes of CO² emissions per year

Find more tap water facts here (opens in new window)

Win £50 by recycling!

Wimborne residents have the chance to win one of ten £50 cash prizes, as part of a fantastic new recycling scheme.

Wimborne Town Council and East Dorset District Council have teamed to reward residents of Wimborne for correctly recycling using their kerbside box and bag.

Kicking off from 26 July, and running throughout the summer, two Wimborne residents per week will be randomly rewarded with £50 to spend in the town’s shops – just as long as they have recycled correctly!

To be in with a chance of winning, residents will need to put out their green box and bag on their collection day, and these must contain the right recycling materials:

• Green box – plastic bottles, glass bottles, jars, tins, cans and aerosols
• Bag – newspapers, magazines, junk mail, office paper and envelopes

Good luck!

St Johns First School go green

As part of their environment week, pupils at St Johns First School were visited by East Dorset’s waste reduction manager, Gemma Coles, to learn about how to divert rubbish away from landfill by reducing, reusing and recycling waste.

Year four pupils enjoyed a visit to the materials recovery facility at Hurn, near Bournemouth Airport, where recycling is taken and stored. Here they saw how cans and plastic bottles are separated, squashed and bailed up before being transported to different places to be made into new products. They also had a chance to learn all about composting at Eco Sustainable Solutions.

There was also an opportunity for the children to get creative by taking part in a reuse competition, which involved making something new from rubbish.

Linda Sharpe, teacher at St Johns said, ‘The whole week was a great success, the children loved all the fun activities and speakers we had in.’