First Somerset Waste Partnership Reuse Week Scheme starts today
Officials are promoting reuse as an alternative to buying new, recycling or throwing away.
The first Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP) Reuse Week starts today - promoting reuse as an alternative to buying new, recycling or throwing away.
There are endless ways to add reuse to your daily routine: donating to or buying from charity shops, repairing instead of throwing away, repurposing to give something a new lease of life.
The SWP awareness week runs from 16-23 July, kicking-off this Saturday when the Fixy van – Fixy McFixface - joins the Yeovil Ecofair.
Fixy will also visit Chard, Ilminster, Frome and the Blackdown Hills promoting the repair and reuse of electricals and electronics and supporting Somerset’s Repair Café network.
Other Reuse Week activities include an “Ask the expert” Facebook session, online info, and a special edition of the Sorted! e-newsletter.
Throughout the week, Somerset residents can share their reuse success stories for a chance of winning a refurbished laptop or tablet.
Be it a charity shop bargain, a beloved upcycling project, worn-out wellies turned into plant-pots, or a broken kettle fixed and boiling again – we want to hear about it.
Share your story - and a photograph – on the @somersetWaste Facebook page, the SWP Next Door page or email it to recycle@somersetwaste.gov.uk
At the end of Reuse Week, a winner will be chosen at random and they will have the choice of a ‘repaired for reuse’ laptop or tablet.
Anyone with questions about reuse can join the SWP Facebook “Ask the expert” hour on Wednesday 20 July.
Whatever your question, post it on the @somersetwaste Facebook page between 12noon-1pm and the team we do its best to answer.
Councillor Sarah Dyke, Chair of the Somerset Waste Board, said: “Recycling is great, but reuse is even better. It saves money, helps protect our environment, and it’s easier than most people think.
“To make a real difference, we must start thinking about reuse before we think about recycling, and only discard things that truly cannot be used again or repurposed for something else.”
The full Fixy van schedule is below. At all events it will be offering advice on repair and reuse, encouraging volunteering and sign-posting to the nearest Repair Cafes to get things fixed.
Thanks to Somerset-based DonateIT, Fixy will also run a “tech amnesty”, taking donations of broken or unwanted smart tech including laptops, tablets, mobile phones, digital cameras and games consoles.
These will be repaired if possible and passed on to schools, community groups and people who need them, or recycled.