On the 29th October, Epping Forest Foodbank attended Epping Forest District’s Recycling Rewards awards ceremony, coming 2nd place and receiving a £550 donation.
Recycling Rewards is a scheme run by Local Green Points, who partner with local authorities to provide schemes that aim to motivate residents in the area to recycle more and waste less. Residents collect ‘green points’ which gain them vouchers for shops. By earning green points residents also receive money to donate to one of the local charities supported by the scheme, including Epping Forest Foodbank. Partnering with Epping Forest District Council, since October 2017 the Recycling Rewards scheme has been taking place in 1,600 residences in 100 blocks of flats.
On Monday morning foodbank volunteers went along to the Epping Forest District Council’s Civic Office for the awards ceremony. We heard from the Managing Director of Local Green Points, Graham Simmonds, and Epping Forest District Council’s Chairman, Richard Bassett, on the huge success of the scheme in this district. The vouchers residents were rewarded with, including for M & S and Love2shop, proved to be very popular and 30% of residents in the blocks of flats took part in the scheme. This is a very high percentage of participation, particularly in the scheme’s first year here. Most importantly, the scheme is to improve recycling in Epping Forest, tackling the issue of contamination, where non-recyclables are incorrectly put in recycling bins and can lead to that recycling being sent to landfill.
The other local charities awarded were; Safer Places, a domestic abuse support service, in 1st place, Epping Forest Community Transport, providing transport for people who cannot use conventional public transport in 3rd, and Chigwell Riding Trust, a riding centre for people with special needs in 4th. Congratulations to all, we really enjoyed meeting members of these charities and chatting to them about the work they do in the community.
Local Green Points aims to make a long term impact through educating people. If you would like know more about recycling in Epping Forest, see the council’s website for information and recycling news. Congratulations to all involved in the scheme, we look forward to seeing how the Recycling Rewards go next year!