With the smell of fresh pine in your home, there’s nothing quite like a real tree at Christmas – and Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead is urging everyone who bought a real tree in 2014 to recycle it, or replant it and use it again this year.
Scottish farms grow around 4.3 million Christmas trees every year with many of these home-grown trees taking pride of place in households across the country.
Mr Lochhead said: “Real Christmas trees, many of which have been grown here on Scottish farms, add some authentic festive sparkle to homes but I don’t think many people realise they can do their bit for the environment after they’ve used their trees by recycling them.
“All local authorities have recycling centres to take advantage of and I would encourage everyone who has bought a real tree this year to make sure they do.
“Alternatively, the gardeners among us might want to replant their tree to use again year on year – again doing your bit for the environment and also saving yourself some money next year.
“Christmas is a great time of year – it’s all about celebrating, having fun, relaxing and enjoying quality time with family and friends – but it’s also a time to reflect on the past year and what your aims are for 2015. I hope everyone in Scotland will resolve to make 2015 their Greenest year yet.”
Most households in Edinburgh will have their rubbish and recycling collected as normal this week: other than New Year’s Day, collections will not change for residents across the city.
Rubbish and recycling will not be picked up on Thursday 1st January (New Year’s Day) only.
For those who would usually have a collection on Thursday, it will be rearranged from Thursday 1st January to Saturday 3 January.
Normal service will resume on 2 January.
Residents can arrange a special uplift for bulky items online or by phoning 0131 529 3030. Collection of re-usable furniture and white goods can be arranged by contacting the national re-use phone line on 0800 0665 820.
Christmas tree recycling
Those who receive a garden waste service can recycle real Christmas trees after Christmas Day by placing it at the kerbside next to their brown bin by 6am on their garden waste pick up day. Bases should be removed and trees over 6ft tall should be cut it in half.
Residents living in a communal bin area can leave their trees beside their nearest shared bin on one of the dates below. These will be picked up and turned into compost for use in parks and gardens.
City Centre and Leith – Monday 5th, 12th, 19th January
North – Tuesday 6th, 11th, 20th January
East – Wednesday 7th, 14th, 21st January
South – Thursday 8th, 15th, 22nd January
South West – Friday 9th, 16th, 23rd January
West – Saturday 10th, 17th, 24th January
Christmas trees can also be taken to any of the city’s Community Recycling Centres. These will be open every day except 1st and 2nd January.
Residents are being reminded that a range of materials can be recycled, including wrapping paper, glass bottles and food waste. Check the Council’s rubbish and recycling pages to find out what goes into which bin.
2015 calendars
There will be no changes to collections in 2015. New bin calendars will be available on the Council’s bin collection day page at the end of December. Copies can also be ordered by contacting the Council on 0131 529 3030.
Most households in Edinburgh will have their rubbish and recycling collected as normal over the Christmas holidays. Other than Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, collections will not change for residents across the city.
Rubbish and recycling will not be picked up on Thursday 25 December (Christmas Day) and Thursday 1 January (New Year’s Day) only.
For those who would usually have a collection on these days, it will be rearranged from Thursday 25 December to Saturday the 27 December and from Thursday 1 January to Saturday 3 January.
Normal service will resume on 26th December and 2nd January.
Residents can arrange a special uplift for bulky items online or by phoning 0131 529 3030. Collection of re-usable furniture and white goods can be arranged by contacting the national re-use phone line on 0800 0665 820.
Christmas tree recycling
Those who receive a garden waste service can recycle real Christmas trees after Christmas Day by placing it at the kerbside next to their brown bin by 6am on their garden waste pick up day. Bases should be removed and trees over 6ft tall should be cut it in half.
Residents living in a communal bin area can leave their trees beside their nearest shared bin on one of the dates below. These will be picked up and turned into compost for use in parks and gardens.
City Centre and Leith – Monday 5, 12 and 19 January North – Tuesday 6, 11 and 20 January
East – Wednesday 7, 14 and 21 January
South – Thursday 8, 15 and 22 January
South West – Friday 9, 16 and 23 January
West – Saturday 10, 17 and 24 January
Christmas trees can also be taken to any of the city’s Community Recycling Centres. These will be open every day except on 25 & 26 December and 1 & 2 January.
Residents are being reminded that a range of materials can be recycled over Christmas, in addition to Christmas trees, including wrapping paper, glass bottles and food waste. Check the Council’s rubbish and recycling pages to find out what goes into which bin.
Environment Convener, Councillor Lesley Hinds, said: “It is essential that we keep the city moving, regardless of the time of year, so I am pleased that we are able to continue collecting rubbish and recycling almost as normal over the festive period. This is thanks to the staff who work hard to keep things ticking over during the holidays.
“So much of the rubbish that we generate over Christmas can be recycled – from wrapping paper to empty bottles or leftover food – so I would urge people to make the most of their recycling facilities during this time.
“Households can also easily recycle their real Christmas trees thanks to additional uplifts, allowing them to be composted for use in our parks and making way for a green Christmas.”
2015 calendars
There will be no changes to collections in 2015. New bin calendars will be available on the Council’s bin collection day page at the end of December. Copies can also be ordered by contacting the Council on 0131 529 3030 from today (15 December).
A redesigned recycling service in Edinburgh is reducing the volume of rubbish being sent to landfill, new figures show. Residents using the new kerbside service have seen a 30% reduction in landfill waste, with homes now binning an average of 5kg a week compared to 7kg before the change.
Recycling has also increased in areas with the new service, and has risen from approximately 2kg to 3kg per week, a 50% increase.
Almost 20,000 households changed to the new collection service – which aims to simplify recycling, expanding capacity for different materials – in September and 17,000 more homes will receive the service, which will be rolled out in phases to 140,000 properties in total over the next year.
Environment Convener, Councillor Lesley Hinds, (above) said: “These figures are extremely heartening and demonstrate the impact the new service is bound to have on recycling in the city.
“There is no doubt we need to reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfill, and I am confident that the public will help us to achieve this, as the first phase of the roll-out has shown.
“As we introduce the service to more and more households, we will continue to learn from the process, making every effort to help people adjust to the changes.”
New grey bins will begin being delivered to phase two homes this week. On householders’ start date, their existing green wheelie bin will be emptied of general waste for the last time before being used for recycling. Blue boxes will still to be used for glass as well as small electrical items and food and garden recycling will continue as normal.
It is hoped increasing space and capacity for mixed recycling will support the Council’s pledge to recycle 70% of the city’s waste by 2025.
Juliet Shields, who lives in Craigentinny with her husband Colin and five-year-old son Conor, began using the new recycling service in September, and says it has changed her attitude to recycling.
She said: “Before the new service I didn’t recycle very much, so when I saw it was happening I thought ‘I’m going to have to get on top of this’. I’ve found the new service great – there’s so much more stuff we can get rid of, it just seems much better to me now.
“I’ve become a lot more aware of the importance of recycling having a son too, and I want to set him a good example. I think people are very enthusiastic about the new bins and system and for me it works really well.”
Joyce Grieve, who lives in Restalrig with her husband Derek and seven-week-old son Christopher, also began using the new service in September.
She said: “I love recycling, so I was doing it already – I don’t like to throw things away that we don’t need to. But I really like the new service, I love the fact we’ve got a bigger recycling bin now. Having a little one we’ve had a lot of boxes and presents and it’s great to be able to put it in a place where we can recycle them.”
As well as providing environmental benefits, increasing recycling rates can save the Council millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money spent on landfill costs.
Visit the recycling pages on the Council website for more information.
Bangholm, Boswall, Craigroyston and Crewe are among the first areas to receive the revised recycling service now being rolled out across the city.
The new recycling service for more than 140,000 homes in Edinburgh began on 1 September, and Households involved in the first phase of the roll-out (click on link below for a full list of streets affected) will have their green waste bins collected for the last time this week before they are used for mixed recycling.
Around 20,000 properties received new grey bins during August, which they will now use for general waste. Blue boxes will still to be used for glass as well as small electrical items, and food and garden recycling will continue as normal. The red box will no longer be needed.
Those who are receiving the new service will have been sent information and collection date calendars through the post. Throughout the week, as collections are made according to householders’ collection calendars, stickers will be placed on empty green bins advising they will now be used for recycling.
To help the public adjust to the changes, recycling advisors will also accompany bin lorries to answer any questions and provide additional information on how the service has been updated.
Environment Convener, Councillor Lesley Hinds, said: “We are rolling the new recycling service out in phases to ensure we get it right, learning as we go, and will be making every effort to help people to adjust to the changes.
“As part of the roll-out we’ll be ensuring the public are kept well-informed, with recycling advisors visiting homes, providing advice and speaking to residents about how they are adapting to the new collections.
“There is no doubt we need to increase recycling rates in Edinburgh, and I’m confident the public are willing to work with us to help boost levels of recycling while keeping landfill costs down.”
Councillor Adam McVey, Environment Vice Convener, added: “We all need to get recycling if we want Edinburgh to become a sustainable city, and this simplified service is aimed at helping citizens to do that.
“We have seen similar schemes working well for other local authorities and I’m sure we’ll soon see the benefits here too.”
Edinburgh currently recycles almost 40% of its waste but needs to continue to improve if it is to meet a target of 70% by 2025.
Not only does recycling benefit the environment but by upping rates, the Council can save on the millions of pounds of taxpayers money paid each year in landfill costs.
An analysis of general waste in Edinburgh, carried out in 2010, found that more than two thirds of people’s bin contents could be recycled.
Now, by increasing capacity for recycling, simplifying the system and accepting more materials, it is hoped the new kerbside recycling service will encourage more households to recycle and sort their waste, helping to save on landfill costs and paving the way for a greener city.
By rolling the changes out in phases, the Council aims to learn as it progresses, helping residents to adjust to the new service by offering advice and support throughout the process.
Green bin – Tins, cans, paper, cardboard, envelopes, plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays
Blue box – Glass, batteries, small electricals and textiles
New Grey wheelie bin – All waste that can’t be recycled
Red box – No longer used
Food waste bin – All food waste
Brown bin – Garden waste
We have some free classes aimed primarily at local people in our community at Craigroyston:
Cook your tea
Sometimes the hardest thing about cooking is deciding what to make!
It is all too easy to run out of ideas for offering something delicious, healthy and within a tight budget. The friendly tutor for this class has a wide range of ideas which can be made quickly and cheaply making this the highlight of your culinary week.
Favourite dishes range from Thai curry, to mushroom risotto as well
as home made lemon chicken. If there is anything you really want to learn to make, the tutor will be able to help.
Come along, cook your tea and take it home to surprise all the family and friends!
Please bring £1.50 each week towards the ingredients. The class is *FREE.
Saving Money (and the Environment)
Small steps = big changes!
This practical maths course takes everyday situations and shows you how to make the maths work for you!
Work out the running costs of many household appliances, decipher your
energy bill, compare special offers while out shopping and even find out how to make the most of a square foot garden!
Don’t worry if you didn’t get maths the first time round, this course allows you to start small and build up at your own pace. It uses examples from everyday life that affect everyone, from recipes to recycling
and will help you quickly gain confidence in handling your finances!
Not only that, we are running this course in partnership with Edinburgh’s
very own Science Museum at Dynamic Earth and several sessions will take place there (all transport & entry fees provided).
Creative Expressions
Bringing together creative writing, photography and other forms of creative expression, this class offers a range of combined art forms. The informal setting means that everyone can take part in different forms of self expression and gain a satisfying experience.
*(This class is FREE) And also some classes that we hope will be of interest and are very good value:
Fee is £50 for the standard 10 weeks of 2 hours per week courses – £25 for a senior citizen or student – £14 for anyone receiving benefits. (half of this for the 5 week course or a 1 hour course)
These can be booked online as well as by phone or in person – www.joininedinburgh.org
Make and Mend
Creative Upcycling Projects (5 weeks)
Upcycling is about converting old or discarded materials into something
useful and beautiful for your home or to give as a personalised present. Join this weekly course to learn all sorts of original ways to refashion and redesign things you have at home already, with a friendly tutor full of inspiring ideas and different craft techniques.
Pottery
This class teaches the basics of hand building and wheel throwing in clay and introduces different artistic styles & methods of creating successful ceramic pieces.
It also offers an introduction to the use of the potter’s wheel and stone
wear firing. There is an additional £10 to pay towards materials used.
Creative Writing
Do you feel you might like to have some guidance in developing your creative writing skills, to express ideas and show you how to overcome writer’s block?
A very friendly tutor can help you develop characters, transform experiences into storylines and encourage you to share your writing with
the group. The class is supportive and will look at wide ranging in creative styles.
NOW STARTING SEPTEMBER:
Computing for Not Quite Beginners
This course is ideal for people who can create a word/text document and would like to start experimenting with pictures and tables in order to create a poster, newsletter, invitation or flyer.
Potential students should be able to create a simple document with some
text in it.
The course will cover:
Inserting pictures from clipart, inserting photos from a memory stick, downloading pictures from the Internet, arranging text size, colour etc, using Wordart, designing page layouts and using columns and inserting tables.
Scots History through Scottish Novels
This enjoyable course will to explore the relationship between 20th and early 21st century Scottish literature, history and the culture and politics of contemporary Scotland.
The books the course will be looking at will be James Douglas Brown, The House with the Green Shutters; Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song; Jessie Kesson, The White Bird Passes; Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie; James Robertson, And the Land Lay Still.
There will be a small amount of advised reading to support a deeper understanding of the texts and their historical and cultural background.
and there are many more – language, music and others – and it it would be great to have some local people take advantage of these great classes!
Cllr Lesley Hinds: ‘simplifying the recycling process is essential’
RED BOX no more!
More than 140,000 city residents will receive a new recycling service this autumn, and the first of the households affected – including neighbourhoods across North Edinburgh – will receive letters explaining the changes later this month.
The new service will be rolled out in phases, with the first stage beginning on 1 September when approximately 20,000 households will have their red boxes replaced by a new wheelie bin.
Houses affected by the first phase of changes – in Alnwickhill, Blackhall, Burdiehouse, Cleikimin, Craigentinny, Craigleith, Drylaw, Gilmerton, Goldenacre, Hyvot Bank, Joppa, Kaimes, Leith, Liberton, Lochend, Muirhouse, Niddrie, Orchard Brae, Piershill, Prestonfield, Restalrig , Southhouse, The Inch, Trinity, Wardie, Warriston and Willowbrae – will begin to receive information from mid-July, letting them know that their recycling bins and collections will be changing along with additional information on the update.
The new, slightly smaller, wheelie bin will be used for general waste and the ‘old’ standard green wheelie bin for mixed recycling. Blue boxes will still to be used for glass, food and garden recycling will continue as normal and the red box will no longer be needed.
The new arrangements will be:
Food waste: existing small grey bins, collected weekly (no change)
Garden waste: existing brown bin, collected fortnightly (no change)
General waste: new 140-litre grey wheelie bin, collected fortnightly
Glass recycling: existing blue box, collected fortnightly (no change)
Mixed recycling: existing 240 litre green wheelie bin, collected fortnightly.
A full scale communications and engagement campaign will also help residents adjust to the roll-out, with information packs, collection calendars and details delivered to households and posters, web and social media updates spreading the message more widely, along with a series of informative events throughout the city.
Environment Convener, Councillor Lesley Hinds said: “We know that this new recycling service can work, as we have seen in other local authorities, and I am confident that the general public want to help us to boost recycling rates as landfill costs continue to increase.
“We will make every effort to help people adjust to the changes, engaging with communities, visiting homes, providing advice and monitoring to find out which households need most support.
“Recycling is something that everyone needs to embrace if Edinburgh is to become a sustainable city, and expanding capacity and simplifying the process for residents is essential for this.”
Councillor Adam McVey, Environment Vice Convener, added: “To meet our targets we need to see a culture-change – we want to help residents get used to the new service but the public have to take responsibility too.
“Edinburgh can and should lead the way to creating a greener Scotland, and by recycling more and sending less to landfill we can achieve this.”
Edinburgh currently recycles almost 40% of its waste but needs to continue to improve if it is to meet a target of 70% by 2025.
Not only does recycling benefit the environment but by upping rates the Council can save on the millions of pounds of taxpayers money paid each year in landfill costs.
An analysis of general waste in Edinburgh, carried out in 2010, found that more than two thirds of people’s bin contents could be recycled.
Now, by increasing capacity for recycling, simplifying the system and accepting more materials, it is hoped the new kerbside recycling service will encourage more households to recycle and sort their waste, helping to save on landfill costs and paving the way for a greener city.
This approach follows a number of other councils, including Falkirk and Fife, who have made the move to increase recycling capacity for residents.
By rolling the changes out in phases, the Council aims to learn as it progresses, helping residents to adjust to the new service by offering advice and support throughout the process.
However, not all streets will receive a new service – those who are included will receive a letter informing them this month.
The city council is giving away free bags of compost made from residents’ recycled garden waste to mark the return of fortnightly garden waste collections and to thank residents for using the service.
The local event in the North neighbourhood is this Friday (25 April) at Victoria Park (entrance by Trinity Primary School gate) from 12.20 until stocks run out.
Council officers will be on hand to provide information about all city recycling services, and will have some food waste kitchen caddies and liners to give to those who need them.
Local residents are being encouraged not to throw their old Christmas cards in the bin and instead help support the environment. Customers at Sainsbury’s Blackhall can start the New Year by making a positive impact to the environment and recycle their cards at the Craigleith store.
Customers have until Tuesday 14th January to bring in any of their old cards, with a collection box situated at the front of the store. The recycling drive is part of the retailer’s partnership with the Forest Steward Council UK.
The collected cards will be recycled by Sainsbury’s and it will make a donation to the Forest Stewardship Council UK (FSC) in the New Year based on the volume of cards collected in its stores. Last year it donated almost £9,000 to help the FSC with its work to promote responsible management of the world’s forests.
The initiative has grown this year, with collection boxes now in over 1,000 supermarkets and convenience stores throughout the country. Sainsbury’s online customers in Blackhall can also have their cards collected from their homes when they receive their online shop, making it even easier to recycle and help reduce the amount of household waste going to landfill.
Sainsbury’s Blackhall Store Manager George Paton said: “We had a really positive response from our customers last year and with their help, we’re hoping to make an even bigger contribution this time. It’s a great way to continue that goodwill feeling and ensure your cards are put to positive use, which is all part of our No Waste to Landfill commitment”.
Rosie Teasdale, Deputy Director, FSC UK added: “Sainsbury’s donation provides essential support for our education and awareness-raising work, helping us to support people in the UK protect the world’s forests. Recycling paper results in less waste going to landfill, it reduces the pressure on forests, and it’s helping to give future generations the gift of healthy forests.”
Additionally, all ‘paper’ wrapping paper can also be placed in the Christmas card recycling collection boxes to support this activity [Sainsbury’s sells over five million rolls of wrapping paper each year – that’s enough to stretch from London to Tokyo and back].
The retailer achieved zero waste to landfill at all stores in 2013 and customers can also recycle batteries, mixed paper and card, mixed cans, mixed glass and plastics throughout 2014 at the Blackhall store’s recycling centre, which complements existing kerbside collections. Meanwhile, customers can also recycle their clothing and other items like DVDs and books at the recycling centre to support Oxfam.
With festivities over for another year, residents wishing to recycle their real Christmas trees have a number of options:
Christmas trees can be recycled at any of the city council’s three Community Recycling Centres.
If you have a brown bin or live in a brown bin area, place your tree at the kerbside, next to your bin, by 6am on your next garden waste day. Collection days can be checked by entering an address or by postcode at http://www.greenboxday.co.uk/.
Trees will also be collected from communal bin areas during January, on the following dates:
• City Centre and Leith – Monday 6, 13, 20
• East – Tuesday 7, 14, 21 • North – Wednesday 8, 15, 22
• West and South West – Thursday 9, 16, 23
• South – Friday 10, 17, 24.
To enable trees to be recycled, residents are reminded to:
• Remove all decorations from the Christmas tree
• Cut the tree in half if it is over 6ft tall
• Do not place trees in plastic bags.
Councillor Lesley Hinds, Environment Convener, said: “Whether they put it on the kerbside next to their brown bin, take it to a Community Recycling Centre or leave it out for collection beside communal bins on the designated day, people can ensure that their real Christmas tree is recycled now the festive season is over.”
With the smell of fresh pine in your home, there’s nothing quite like a real tree at Christmas – and Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead is urging everyone who bought a real tree in 2014 to recycle it, or replant it and use it again this year.
Mr Lochhead said: “Real Christmas trees, many of which have been grown here on Scottish farms, add some authentic festive sparkle to homes but I don’t think many people realise they can do their bit for the environment after they’ve used their trees by recycling them.
