- Recycling service gearing up for a tree
mendously busy 2004.
MERSEYSIDE'S residents are being offered the chance to make a recycling resolution this New Year with the county’s recycling service gearing up for a tree mendously busy period!
Last year more than six million cut Christmas trees were bought in the UK but only 750,000 were recycled. That just a mere 12.5 per cent. So this time round Merseyside’s local authorities want to up the ante and see the county go green for 2004.
It doesn’t matter whether you’ve got a Norwegian spruce, a Scots pine or a noble fir, your unwanted Christmas tree will be welcomed at any local recycling site.
Nowadays you can buy trees that can be planted in the garden afterwards or kept in a pot until the following year. Your garden centre will be able to help and if you opt for a cut Christmas tree ask if they will recycle it.
If they do not, then Merseyside’s local authorities already operate a dedicated recycling service, where trees are put through a chipping machine and used as mulch on gardens, for surfacing paths and playgrounds and as a fertiliser for shrubberies.
The 13 household waste recycling centres within Merseyside all undertake green waste recycling, which includes your unwanted Christmas trees, and can be found at:-
• Liverpool; Otterspool,
• Southport; Formby, Sefton Meadows
• Knowsley; Kirkby, Huyton
• St Helens; Rainford, Newton-le-Willows, Ravenhead, Rainhill
• Wirral; West Kirby, Bidston, Clatterbridge.
For further information on your local Household Waste Reception Centre, contact MWDA on 0151 255 1444.
In Knowsley, a Christmas tree recycling scheme will run on Sunday 11th January at Millbrook Park in Kirkby, Asda in Huyton and Stadt Moers car park in Whiston.
In St Helens facilities are being put in place to recycle cards and trees at all four local waste reception sites, with additional facilities for cards at St Helens Town Hall, Central Library, Wesley House, Lincoln House and the Rivington Centre until January 31.
Liverpool will also open an additional 12 sites across the city for Christmas tree recycling. More information on these sites can be found by calling 0151 225
Christmas trees are a renewable energy source, and for each tree felled at least two are planted in its place. Also, each planted acre of Christmas trees provides the daily oxygen requirement for 18 people.
But it’s not just Christmas trees that can be recycled - we all produce far more waste at Christmas than at any other time of the year. Christmas cards, catalogues and newspapers full of extra Christmas advertisements can all be easily diverted away from the dustbin. Add to that all the empty bottles following the festive spirits and the region could see its recycling rate soar over the Christmas period.
MWDA and the 5 District Councils are again supporting the National Christmas Card Recycling Scheme, the aim of which is to encourage people to take all their cards to WH Smiths and Tesco stores and place them in the recycling collection points between 5th January and 1st February 2004. Last year 40 million cards were collected throughout the UK saving 13,600 trees. Of which Merseyside collected and recycled 7.7 tonnes with funds raised going to the Woodland Trust, the leading conservation charity dedicated to the protection of the UK’s native woodland heritage.
All of the magazines, catalogues, newspapers and junk mail collected from Merseyside and recycled back into newsprint and other paper to be used again which is much better that filling up landfill sites across the county.
Councillor Fletcher, Chair of Merseyside Waste Development Agency, says:- “We’re appealing to Merseyside’s residents to make recycling their New Year’s resolution. Paper is one of the easiest things to recycle as it is dry and easy to store.
Many areas of Merseyside have kerbside collection scheme which means that all you need to do is pop your paper into the box or bag provided and leave it on your kerbside on collection day and for those areas that don’t, why not drop it off at your supermarket bring site when you shop.
Every little helps and even if you divert one extra newspaper or one bottle then it’s one less we have to worry about and one less we have to pay to dispose of. Any member of the public who wants more information about recycling just needs to call 0151 255 1444.”
Merseyside has strict EU recycling targets to meet. It must recycle 22 per cent of its waste by April 2004 and over 33 per cent by April 2005. Considering 18 per cent is currently recycled and waste is increasing at around three per cent a year this is no mean feat.
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WE
ARE OUT AND ABOUT FOR 2003/2004 New Year's Eve. Keep a look
out for us...
IF YOU are
in Southport or Formby over New Years Eve pop in to your pubs and
clubs, as we are visiting them... You might just be in the
pup we visit and get your photograph on the site.... So
remember, party hard and DON'T DRINK DRIVE. If you spot or
photographer or reporter, say hi and get a shot taken...
NEW YEAR’S PEEVE
PLAN YOUR New Year Early to Avoid Last Minute Let Downs says Visit London...
With celebrations less than a week away, new figures reveal that the North West is the country’s least organised region when it comes to deciding what to do on New Year’s Eve, with nearly four in 10 (38%) of people in the region not having a clue what they are doing on December 31st - 8% higher than the national average.
With over one in three people from the North West still to make a decision, 36% of people also admit their New Year’s Eve would be better if they planned more in advance.
The findings, revealed today by Visit London also reveal that the North West lead the nation when it comes to partying on New Year’s Eve, as it’s 7% behind the national average of people who stay in on New Year’s Eve. However, one in three people in the North West said they did nothing to celebrate the arrival of 2003.
The figures are released as part of a major campaign to promote the capital over the New Year period and in an effort to encourage people to plan their New Year’s Eve early via
www.visitlondon.com
where more than 15,000 pubs, clubs, hotels, theatres and restaurants are offering everything from ‘Wallet Friendly’ ideas to more ‘Lavish London’ itineraries.
For people in the North West, getting home is the worst thing about New Year’s Eve, as voted for by 35% - 12% higher than the national average. For such people, by heading south they could expect to benefit from the free travel announced on London’s tubes, buses and DLR from 23:45 on the 31st December to 04:30 on the 1st January, which could make London a capital place to be.
“The message is clear – for too many people New Year has become a repetitive, poorly planned, last minute decision when options are limited. We’re encouraging people to think ahead and come and enjoy the best of what London has to offer this New Year,” said David Campbell, CEO of Visit London.
Other Research Highlights
North West
§ More than one in ten (14%) regret leaving their planning too late. 36% of people think they’d have a better time if they planned earlier
§ A combined 40% of people say deciding what to do, leaving it to the last minute and finding somewhere to book is the worst thing about New Year’s Eve
§ Just 7% of people are honest and admit they dread doing something embarrassing as the worst thing about New Year celebrations!
§ 56% of people leave planning their New Year until after Christmas. At the other end of the scale, 14% of people plan more than a month in advance
§ Women are 25% more likely than men to stay at home and do nothing according to 2003 figures. Perhaps men are more optimistic of a midnight smooch?
§ Finally, perhaps people are not partying hard enough – only 1% of people admitted they couldn’t remember what they did last Dec 31st!
Please
Spare a Though For People
AT THIS time of
year we tend to forget about the people who are working over both on
Christmas Eve, Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Eve and New Years Day,
like the emergency services, from the Coastguard and Mountain Rescue
Services to the Ambulance, Police and Fire Service.. Also
people who work in nursing homes and in the hospitals, as well as
the media and the club and pub staff who entertain you. Please
spare a though for them over this period... They do more than
you think.
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