Tag: Changeworks

New campaign offers residents advice and support with energy bills

Edinburgh residents struggling with rising energy costs are being offered advice and support with their bills as part of a city-wide campaign aimed at helping those most in need.

Run by the City of Edinburgh Council in partnership with Changeworks and Home Energy Scotland, the campaign seeks to support people experiencing, or most at risk from, fuel poverty with energy savings advice so they can save money on their bills.

As well as helping residents find out if they’re eligible for grants or funding for energy efficiency home improvements, help is also being offered to people dealing with fuel debt and high energy

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In key areas of the city, home owners and private tenants are being urged to call Home Energy Scotland for support, free on 0808 808 2282 and Council tenants are being urged to call the Energy Advice Service for free on 0800 870 8800.

They can also visit www.edinburgh.gov.uk/EnergyAdvice for more information.

Council Leader Adam McVey said: “This valuable campaign comes at a time when many households across the city will be faced with a choice of heating their homes or eating – due to rising food and energy bills as well as a £1,000 cut in universal credit payments for those who need support most- all contributing to this cost of living crisis.

“We want to do all we can to help make sure people most at need are able to access the advice and support available to them so that they can live in warmer, more comfortable homes.

“I urge anyone in the city struggling with their bills to call Home Energy Scotland or the Energy Advice Service so they can get the support they need today.”

Depute Leader Cammy Day added: “Rising home energy costs are leaving many people across Edinburgh worried about how they will pay their gas and electricity bills.

“We want to make sure that people know there is help and support there for them. If you’re a Council tenant, this is through our Energy Advice Service, run in partnership with Changeworks, and for people who own their own home, support is there from Home Energy Scotland.

“Their advisors have lots of excellent advice and tips to help people save money on bills so get in touch as they will be happy to share them. Making a few small changes can add up to a big difference.”

Laura Webb, Fuel Poverty and Low Carbon Operations Director at Changeworks said: “Through our work delivering the Home Energy Scotland service in the South East of Scotland and providing the Energy Advice Service for City of Edinburgh Council tenants we have seen increasing demand for support as people find themselves struggling with high bills and fuel debt.

“Our expert advisors are here to help and are already working hard to help Edinburgh residents save money and lessen the impacts of rising fuel costs.

“We are delighted to be working in partnership with City of Edinburgh Council on this campaign and encourage the people of Edinburgh to get in touch for further support.”

Last year, 790 Council tenants were supported through the Energy Advice Service with gas and electricity billing issues and with support around supplier debt. The service also gained around £170,000 of savings for the tenants.

Home Energy Scotland has also helped 24,000 homeowners and private tenants across Scotland to benefit from the Scottish Government funded Warmer Homes Scotland programme since it launched in 2015. Eight out of ten have received completely free energy efficiency improvements, with each of them also saving on average around £300 on their energy bills per year.

Home Energy Scotland is a free advice service funded by the Scottish Government. They work hand in hand with the Council’s Energy Advice Service to make sure people in Edinburgh get all the support they need from their friendly advisors.

Port of Leith Housing Association: Fuel Support Fund now available

£33,000 funding secured from the Scottish Government to help with fuel poverty debts

Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA), in partnership with Changeworks, has secured £33,000 in funding from the Scottish Government and Scottish Federation of Housing Associations to support tenants with existing fuel poverty related debts.

The fund ensures we can support up to 50 households with this issue until the end of March 2022.

Currently, 21% of Edinburgh households live in fuel poverty, rising to 44% for social housing tenants. In Leith, 24% households live in material deprivation which has been further exacerbated by the pandemic.

Affordable Warmth Services Team Manager at Changeworks, Lisa Bygate, commented: “Through our work on the Link-Up Leith project we have seen increasing demand for support as people find themselves struggling with high bills and fuel debt.

“We are now seeing the highest incidences of households at risk of disconnection since the project started. This much welcomed funding will support people living on low incomes to have improved life skills and confidence to tackle fuel poverty issues themselves.

“We are delighted to be strengthening our partnership with Port of Leith Housing Association to provide support to their tenants and Leith residents with energy debt. We will be working closely with their welfare rights staff and other members of the Link-Up Leith project to identify and provide assistance to those who need it.”

PoLHA Group Chief Executive, Heather Kiteley, said: “I’m thankful that we have secured this funding to help our community during this time of rapidly escalating fuel costs.

“We are committed to ensuring our tenants’ welfare and I’m proud that the PoLHA Group has been able to react so quickly to our tenants’ needs and provide vital support.”

Eligible tenants will be identified for this grant through PoLHA’s Tenant Advice Service and Changeworks existing Link-Up Leith project run in partnership with Edinburgh Community Food and Stepping Stones.

Changeworks will also identify people eligible for support through referrals to their Affordable Warmth Service.

How to apply

Tenants can apply for the fund by speaking to their Housing Officer or our Tenant Advice team who can make a referral to Changeworks.

Other services

PoLHA offers the following support services to social housing tenants: welfare benefits advice, money advice and tenancy sustainment advice.

Visit advice and support for help.

Keep cosy and save money

With home energy costs rising, many of us are worrying about our gas and electricity bills. The City of Edinburgh Council is working in partnership with Changeworks and Home Energy Scotland to help keep you and your home warm for less.

Their friendly advisors are on hand to give you:

  • free energy saving advice to help save money on your bills
  • support with fuel debt
  • help to find out if you’re eligible for any grants or funding for energy efficiency home improvements.

If you’re a Council tenant you can contact the Energy Advice Service for free by phoning 0800 870 8800, emailing warmth@changeworks.org.uk or visiting www.changeworks.org.uk

If you’re a home owner or private renter you can contact Home Energy Scotland for free advice on 0808 808 2282 or visit www.homeenergyscotland.org

City council creates new online recycling tool to help you dispose of your waste correctly

We all know that recycling is one small step everyone can take to help the environment and lower our carbon footprint.

As part of this year’s recycling week (September 20-26) we’d like to help you reduce contamination in your bins which can spoil the rest of the contents and stop them from being recycled. We’ll also be promoting top tips for what to put in which bin and more on which plastics you can recycle.

We’ve created an easy-to -use online recycling sorter. You type in an item and it tells you if it can be recycled, which bin to put it in or where to take it – there’s also plenty of tips too.

Councillor Lesley Macinnes, Environment Convener, said: “It’s really important we all get in the habit of disposing of our waste correctly and reusing and recycling where we can. This will all help towards our target for Edinburgh to become a net zero carbon city by 2030.

“To help you sort out your waste and stop even small bits of food and grease in the green recycling bin contaminating other items, like paper and cardboard spoiling the whole bin we’re providing top tips across various platforms,  including our website. Our brand new recycling sorter will also be a really useful guide too.”

Depute Leader, Cammy Day, said: “We’re trying to make recycling as easy as possible for our residents. 

“I know it can be confusing, with so many different kinds of plastics being used in packaging so we’re providing guidance on that and how to dispose of electrical items safely as well! Please check this out to help us recycle more.”

How to make the most of your recycling

Check it

Make sure it’s on the ‘yes please list’.

Empty it

Make sure any bottles or containers are empty. Remember, you can leave plastic drink bottle lids on, but please remove any pump sprays.

Rinse it

Rinse any food and drinks packaging with water before putting it in the bin – you can even use dish water to do this.

Remove it

Peel film lids and coverings off plastic bottles, tubs, pots and trays. Plastic film, wrapping and cellophane can’t be recycled. You don’t need to remove labels though.

Separate it

Don’t store containers and packaging inside each other – it’s difficult to separate them at the recycling plant.

How to recycle your plastics

What to recycle

Whether you use a wheelie bin or a communal bin you can easily recycle plastics in your green lidded bin. Just pop in your empty plastic:

  • bottles (juice, shampoo, household cleaning, toiletry bottles etc)
  • pots (yoghurt etc)
  • tubs (ice cream, butter etc)
  • trays (fruit punnets, ready meal trays etc)

We don’t collect any other type of plastic, so don’t put bags, wrappers, cellophane, toys or any other type of plastic in your green lidded bin.

Before you pop them in the bin remember to rinse the bottles and wash any food off pots, tubs and trays – you don’t need to remove labels, but some bottles come wrapped in a sleeve made from a different plastic. Tear these off and put them in your non-recyclable waste bin.

We accept bottles with or without the tops, but remove pump sprays before putting them in the bin as we can’t recycle them.

What happens to plastic recycling?

Our contractor recycles these in their own recycling plants in England. Anything they can’t recycle is turned into fuel.

Avoiding plastics means less waste

Everything you buy or use has an impact on the environment. Recycling helps to reduce this by reducing how many raw products we use but avoiding producing waste in the first place means even less impact.

Edinburgh has some great refill shops where you can bring your own tubs and bottles and refill them with dried foods, household cleaners and toiletries. Some supermarkets are also starting to develop refill stations in-store.

Plastic bags and wrappers

You can recycle plastic bags at larger supermarkets. They’re starting to collect a wider range of plastic wrappers.

Find out about recycling plastic bags and wrappers.

Large plastic items

We can’t collect and recycle large plastic items at our recycling centres at the moment. This includes items like garden furniture and toys. We’re looking for a reliable recycling company who will take items and we’ll start to collect them again as soon as we can.

You can still take them to one of our recycling centres to dispose of them, but we won’t be able to recycle them.

Other household plastics

Some types of plastics are much harder to collect, either due to their size or because they are made of a mix of materials and need specialist treatment.

Some shops have now started to provide collection points for things like lipstick packaging, pumps sprays and cosmetic packaging in store.

These include

  1. Boots
  2. The Body Shop
  3. Lush.

Not all stores will offer the service, so check their websites to find out what they take and which stores provide this.

How to recycle electrical items:

  • Kerbside bins – to recycle small electricals in Edinburgh you put them in your blue recycling box (which also collects your glass bottles and jars) if you have one. You can put in batteries (in clear plastic bags) and small electrical items like a hairdryer).
  • You can also use this website to find out where to https://www.recycleyourelectricals.org.uk/
  • For reusable items try to use an organisation such as the Changeworks reuse tool to find charities where you can donate them.
  • Take larger items to your nearest recycling centre and remember to book an appointment.
  • Various shops will also collect and recycle small electrical items.

You can also search the city council’s new online recycling sorter to find out what to do with your unwanted electricals.

Leith’s Good With Food!

Residents are being encouraged to adopt smart kitchen and shopping habits as part of a new campaign to tackle the climate crisis by reducing food waste in Leith.

Leith’s Good With Food, a new campaign from Zero Waste Leith, encourages the local community to shop smart, cook just the right amount and use up or share any leftovers.

The campaign is delivered by leading environmental charity Changeworks as part of the Zero Waste Leith project, with funding from the European Regional Development Fund.

Food waste is one of the top contributors to greenhouse gases – and throwing away food waste means you’re throwing away money too. Right now, 60% of the food we waste in Scotland could be avoided, and that’s something the campaign is looking to change. If food can’t be reused, it can be turned into energy through Edinburgh’s kerbside food recycling service.

The campaign kicked off with a launch event at the Leith Walk Police Box yesterday.

Hannah Milne, Zero Waste Leith Co-ordinator at Changeworks said: “Leithers are already leading the way towards zero waste in Scotland and now they are adopting food waste savvy habits in their kitchens, shops and streets with our new campaign, Leith’s Good With Food.

“Our team of volunteers gave out our new Good with Food kits which contain tools, tips and recipes to help Leithers avoid food waste and a kitchen caddy for collecting food waste recycling.”

The campaign is modelled on the successful anti-flytipping campaign, Flyspotting, which featured portraits and messaging from local Leithers and halved flytipping in ten test streets surrounding Dalmeny Street Park.

Councillor Lesley Macinnes, Environment Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council said:  “Food waste is a big greenhouse gas emitter, but it’s something households can tackle easily and help make a real, positive contribution.

“All food waste collected in Edinburgh goes to our state-of-the-art facility at Millerhill to be converted into energy – just one food caddy can generate enough electricity to power a TV for five hours!

“I welcome this new campaign from Changeworks and look forward to even more people getting into the food waste reduction and recycling habit.”

Deposit Return Scheme will drive a circular economy

Scotland’s Deposit Return scheme will give industry, business and individuals the opportunity to drive sustainable economic growth while reducing their impact on the environment. according to a new report.

The wide-ranging social and economic benefits of the proposed scheme were published yesterday. Continue reading Deposit Return Scheme will drive a circular economy

Reuse Showhome opens it’s doors at Ocean Terminal today

Discover comfortable, practical living in a space created entirely from beautiful and affordable reused and upcycled furnishings. Our things have value and this showhome is the ideal place to see that in action. Continue reading Reuse Showhome opens it’s doors at Ocean Terminal today

Reuse Showhome to pop up in Leith

Edinburgh residents are invited to take a fresh look at reused furnishings when they view the beautiful items displayed in the ‘Reuse Showhome’ in Leith this weekend, hosted by Changeworks, Quay Community Improvements and local reuse organisations. Continue reading Reuse Showhome to pop up in Leith