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'Greene' by name, green by nature
Posted on 23/11/2009
Highways, Transportation & Waste Management
Leicestershire's newest family is starring in a brand new campaign designed to cut waste.
The fictional Greenes are spearheading the drive which aims to reduce rubbish by urging people to think about reusing items.
Leicestershire is already the top county partnership for recycling but by mending, selling and donating items people can give them a new lease of life and avoid generating waste altogether.
This could involve swapping a book, selling unwanted items through second-hand websites and car boots, donating to charity and reusing household objects such as jam jars, take-away containers and fabric. As well as helping to cut waste, these simple steps save money too.
Created to illustrate how reuse can form a big part of daily family life, the eight characters are making their first public appearance at next week's campaign launch.
Over the next few months, the Greenes' top tips will be promoted at events across the county.
Michael Rook, Chairman of the Leicestershire Waste Partnership, said: "Reuse can be a very satisfying way of giving your unwanted items a second chance while at the same time helping others enjoy those items by donating them to charity or your local furniture reuse project.
"We hope the Greenes, Leicestershire’s reuse family, will encourage people to engage with the many ways of reusing items and help reduce the amount of usable items that are sent to landfill.”
Tony Kershaw, Vice Chairman of the Leicestershire Waste Partnership and County Council Cabinet Member for Waste Management, said: "Reusing items is a great way not only to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill but also to save money.
"The Greene family help to demonstrate how mending, lending and donating can be part of everyday life and I hope as many people as possible will think about maximising their resources."
The campaign is being launched by Leicestershire Waste Partnership.
The family features: Mr and Mrs Greene, Grandpa and Grandma, Lucy (eldest child) and her boyfriend Will, Jack (middle child) and Johnny (youngest child).
To drive home the messages and encourage residents to identify with the family, each character has their own personality and habits. For instance:
- Grandma hates throwing things away. She uses her sewing skills to make things last longer and collects buttons in an old biscut tin.
- Mr Greene likes gadgets but also to save money and rents or borrows dvd films rather than buying them.
- Grandpa only buys an item if it's needed and prefers to hire things like hedge-trimmers and tile-cutters when he needs them.
To find out more about the Greenes, their top tips and the reuse campaign, please visit www.lesswaste.org.uk or call 0116 305 7005.
Photo Opportunity:
Michael Rook and Tony Kershaw are launching the campaign by joining cardboard cut-outs of the Greenes in a living room made of reused items. The event is taking place at 11am on Thursday, 26th November at Loughborough University. The living room will be made out of borrowed furniture from Loughborough’s local furniture reuse organisation SOFA.
Notes:
SOFA (Suppliers of Furniture and Appliances) are a local Loughborough-based furniture reuse organisation. They collect unwanted, good quality furniture from residents based in the Charnwood area for repair and re-distribution.
The Leicestershire Waste Partnership is made up of the seven districts of Blaby, Charnwood, Harborough, Hinckley and Bosworth, Melton, North West Leicestershire, Oadby and Wigston, together with the County Council.
The Partnership has a clear vision for sustainable waste management.
It aims to reduce the amount of rubbish sent to landfill – by preventing waste in the first place, encouraging reuse, recycling and composting, and treating what’s leftover before disposal.
Working together, the partners aim to recycle or compost 58% of rubbish by 2017.