The first Recycle Swap Shop of 2015 was held last Saturday at the Tilling Green Centre. A new record was set for the weight of goods brought, at over 600 kg.
Over 130 people came to the event and between them took away over a thousand individual items, including clothing, books, cooking pots, children’s car seats and even a bag of artichokes! Remember – you don’t have to bring things to the recycle swap shop – we need people to come and take stuff away as well!
Sixty per cent of the goods brought were taken away by visitors, 30% went to charity shops, 6% were recycled and 4% ended up in landfill. This was a great opportunity for people to save money, with one lady finding many items for her new home.
In addition, the environment benefits from avoiding waste. People can take away items for free, though many make a small voluntary donation to the cost of running the event, which is usually about £60-70.
For the second time running, RX Energy Rye, a community-run organisation, was on hand to give advice to visitors on how to reduce their bills by saving energy and finding better tariffs. They are also present at the library on the High Street in Rye from 1pm to 3pm on the first and third Tuesday of every month, so bring some old energy bills along if you would like them analysed for free by trained volunteers with no hidden agenda.
Don’t forget the next event will be Saturday May 23, at St Mary’s Centre, Lion Street. More details will be available at www.transitionrye.org.uk nearer the time.
Photo: Mike Pepler