‘Great Waste’ campaign takes on floral feel
Visitors and residents arriving in Winchester via the M3 slip road roundabout at Bar End will notice that the summer beds have now been planted.
One of the raised beds forms the logo of The Great Waste campaign, skilfully composed of eye-catching Alternanthera D, Helichrysum Korma and Echeveria elegans.
The Great Waste is a year-long wide campaign across the Winchester District to increase recycling and save waste. It is being spearheaded by Winchester Action on Climate Change (WinACC), working in partnership with Winchester City Council.
The colourful events programme has already included a successful ‘Trash to Treasure’ exhibition at Winchester Discovery Centre; a sell-out ‘Love Food Hate Waste’ evening at River Cottage Canteen and a number of popular ‘Swap and Swish’ events. Activities are designed to encourage residents and businesses to reflect on their consumption of materials and to reduce waste.
Cllr Frank Pearson, Winchester City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Environment, Health and Wellbeing, said:
As a keen geographer, I have long been aware of the need to conserve resources. An awareness of this leads to the necessity that rubbish or waste can be recycled or re-used in a variety of imaginative ways, as seen in the recent ‘Trash to Treasure’ exhibition. We have all seen the visual impact of rubbish carelessly thrown away, but do we consider the environmental impact this has?
The recycling of waste, where possible, helps with our commitment to reduce our carbon emissions as well as by helping the biodiversity of our beautiful urban and rural countryside. This is why the City Council is working with WinACC on this campaign. The city already has an excellent reputation for its open spaces and floral displays, and this bedding display takes the Great Waste message into another dimension –quite literally.
The flower bed has been organised by Winchester City Council’s Landscape and Open Spaces team and will be maintained by The Landscape Group. When the blooms are finished, they won’t be wasted. They will be gathered and turned into compost.
Residents can take their own garden waste to any of the three Winchester District Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC), located at Bar End in Winchester, Alresford and Bishop’s Waltham. The address of your nearest site can be found at the www3.hants.gov.uk/waste-and-recycling web page. The waste is composted down and is available to buy as Pro Grow compost soil enhancer available at the HWRCs. The summer opening hours at the HWRC sites are 9am to 6pm daily.
To find out more about what is happening as part of the Great Waste campaign visit their webpage at www.thegreatwaste.org, like them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thegreatwaste or follow them on Twitter @TheGreatWaste15