ECO – CONGREGATION GREEN SHEET NO.2      Back to Green Sheet index

 

 HOUSEHOLD BATTERY RECYCLING C/O St BRIDGET’S.

 

General recycling rates - The facts.

Cars ; 72.5%, Computers ; 20%, Mobile phones : 10-15%, Cardboard : 30%, Glass : 38% 1

For batteries, the record is even worse:

The average household uses 21 batteries a year 2.The UK generates 20.000-30,000 tonnes of general – purpose batteries every year, but less than 1,000 tonnes are recycled 3 (less than 2%).

Why bother?

Most batteries contain heavy metals, which are a major cause for environmental concern. When disposed of in your wheelie bin, these heavy metals will leak into the ground when the battery casing corrodes. This will contribute to soil and water pollution and endanger wildlife. Cadmium, for example, can be toxic to aquatic invertebrates and can be bio-accumulate in fish, which makes them unfit for human consumption. Some batteries, such as button cell batteries, also contain mercury, which has similarly hazardous properties.

What can I do?

Reduce – use mains transformers where possible.

Reuse – rechargeable batteries last on average 50 times longer than a normal battery.

Recycle – Wirral currently has two collection points for household batteries, at Clatterbridge and Bidston household waste disposal facilities.

We feel so strongly about this issue that we are willing to collect household batteries through St. Bridget’s and transport them to these collection points. (Please note : due to Council tip regulations, only batteries used by householders, not businesses, can be accepted.)

There will be a small bucket with a lid, placed every Sunday morning under the stone bench in the church porch where you can dispose of your household batteries and then we will dispose of them safely.

 

1    The Independent, Charles Arthur, 24.11.2004.

2         Battery Manufacturers Association.

3         Resource Management and Recovery, Vol.22 2/5/2003, p8

 

Kathrin and Richard Holme  625 0575.

 

 

 

 

 

  Eco –Friendly Housework!

 

Sue Harrison has come up with a money saving, planet saving, idea for our congregation. She has organised a refill system for Ecover products. This is in it’s early stages and Sue is open to suggestions on how to operate the arrangement, but at present, if you take along your empty Ecover bottles to the Church centre on specified Sundays she will refill them ( listed below with the prices )  for you. Please note, for safety reasons only original Ecover bottles can be refilled. Should you have any spare bottles which are unwanted, Sue would also be very grateful for these. This Sunday, 17th will be a specified Sunday, and you can see Sue there and ask her any questions or exchange ideas.

 

Fabric conditioner       500ml refill  -     81p         RRP £1.69

Multi-surface cleaner  500ml           -      84p        RRP £1.35

Washing up liquid       1 litre            -    £1.35       RRP £1.95

Toilet cleaner               1 litre            -    £1 .50      RRP  £1.65

 

Sue Harrison, 625 8535.

 

A few words on Ecover.

There are many environmentally friendly cleaning products available for you to purchase, Ecover being just one of them. We have found it to be the most easily sourced for us to supply and contains the largest range of products. Here are a few notes about Ecover for your information, more details can be found on their website; www.ecover.com.

Ecover is against animal testing, they use only vegetable based materials in their products, which helps rapid biodegradability ( quick absorption by nature without harming it), the washing power of their products equals that of well-known brands, the company has been making products for the last 20 years, ultimately, they use only compatible materials which do not harm the environment. There is a print  - out of some of the material from the Ecover website in the Eco- congregation file at the back of church for your perusal and we would appreciate any information or comments you may have on this item for inclusion in our file.

 

Your Eco-congregation.

Should you have any ideas which you would like to contribute to the Green Sheets, or the Eco-congregation file please let one of the team leaders know, we are grateful for any contributions. We are also interested in any literature or publications which you may subscribe to or have and no longer want which you think may be relevant to Eco congregation and that we could make available to the rest of the congregation now and then, as space permits.

Please do pass the green sheets  on to friends and neighbours.

 

Priscilla Bench-Capon, Sally Cashen, and Elizabeth Ashley.

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