Bishop's Cleeve

Bishop's Cleeve has been registered with an Bronze “EcoChurch” award.

Information from the Green Team
Recyclers Teracycle have partnered with pen manufacturers BIC to set up community pen recycling points. There is a collection bin by the door in Ryman's (stationers) at 11 The Promenade in Cheltenham.
Any brand of used pen, felt tip pen, highlighters, markers and correction fluid pots and pens can be donated.
There is a box in the foyer for your items so you don't have to travel to Cheltenham.

Tewkesbury

Tewkesbury church has registered with silver “EcoChurch” award – An awards scheme for churches in England and Wales, who want to demonstrate that they care for God’s earth. We want to “go green” in all areas of our church life – from worship to building management, outreach to personal lifestyle.

At District and at Circuit level of the Methodist church we have committed to environmental policies. Indeed our own church has recommitted through our Green Group to a number of actions (which meets in church every second Saturday morning over coffee) including the following:

•  We will continue to work towards our Gold Eco award.
•  We will support and promote groups that we are closely linked with such as Fair Trade.
•  We will continue to host Green Events on our premises as well as have a presence at any such events in the locality.
•  Every week the notices will contain a ‘Planet health’ tip offered by our Green Group.
•  We will hold 8 services per year based on creation spirituality.
•  We will add a note to our letter which goes out to all preachers requesting that prayers for our planet be included in every service.
•  We will redouble our recycling efforts both personally and as a church.

 All the work we do together will count towards a Bronze, Silver or Gold Eco-Church Award.

One aspect of this in which we can all help is what we do to recycle and reuse items. Currently, we have two blue recycling bins in the corridor outside the main kitchen, and a small recycling bin in the kitchen at the front of the church. These bins will take plastic bottles, cans, paper, cardboard (including biscuit boxes when used at coffee mornings).

There are also waste food bins in each kitchen. We urge you to use these bins, and think about what you are binning before it all goes into the land-fill rubbish bin. We will label the bins and put some additional notices in the kitchens to bring this to the attention of those hiring our premises.

In the Church car park we have two wheelie blue recycling bins, 2 wheelie green bins for general waste, and one wheelie brown bin (for garden waste and flowers but NO paper!).  We would ask that you as individuals think carefully about what you can recycle, and also church groups when disposing of items no longer of use. If you have any queries or want help with items that might need to be taken to the Stoke Orchard Recycling Centre, then please see either of us.

We endeavour to purchase environmentally friendly products such as photo-copying paper, and hand towels and toilet tissue, and we intend to extend this to cleaning products as well.

If you have any further suggestions as to how we can avoid waste, please let us know! You may find it interesting to have a look at the Main eco-church website.

We believe we are ready to apply for the Silver Award, but are working towards the next level. With your help we can do it!

Thank you and happy recycling!
            Patricia Turner and Jean Davies

GREEN TIPs

Minimising Power Consumption

1. Only heat up the water you need in the kettle, you will save water, energy and money! And your water will taste better than if it has been boiled several times.
2. When using the oven switch off 5 – 10 minutes before the completion time. It will save energy.
3. An energy saving tip – when leaving home for short periods, i.e. shopping etc. remember to switch off the heating until your return – it will soon warm up again!
4. Cover pans when cooking: Whenever you cook on the hob, always try to cover the pans – this reduces the amount of energy that escapes from open pans, plus the amount of time it takes to heat up food and boil water.Turn off the tap when cleaning your teeth!
5. Lower your thermostat: Reducing the temperature on your heating system’s thermostat by a few degrees will, over the course of a year, decrease the amount of energy and money you spend on heating.
6. One of the cheapest, most effective ways to save energy and money at home is to draught proof windows, doors, letterbox, fireplaces, and loft hatches . Dr Sarah Price, head of building physics at Enhabit.
7. Don’t let your taps drip; don’t leave electrical equipment on when not in use, and don’t leave it on ‘standby’ either.
8. When taking a shower set a timer for 4 minutes; this can be a big saving both in energy, water and finance.
9. Unplug your charger when your phone, laptop or tablet is fully charged.
10. The microwave is your friend! Microwave ovens use up to 80% less energy than a conventional oven does. It also cooks faster, leaving more time to commit to other environmentally-friendly activities.
11. Use shorter cycles for washing your clothes and choose a lower temperature.
12. Heat a single cup of water in your microwave, instead of using a kettle.
13. Close all your curtains and blinds at night. By closing your curtains and blinds, you can help stop warm air escaping through windows and reduce heating costs, especially if you have radiators situated below your windows.
14. Investing in an aerated shower head will make a significant difference to energy and water consumption. They inject air into the water stream, limiting water usage. A water-efficient shower head could save a four-person household £70 a year on gas for water heating, and a further £115 on water bills if they have a meter.
15. If you use a dishwasher only start it when its full. A half load uses the same amount of electricity and hot water as a full load, so waiting till its full means you do fewer washes and save more energy.

NB Don’t overload it because the machine won’t wash properly.

 Water Use

1. Letting your taps run for five minutes uses about as much energy as a 60-watt lightbulb consumes in 14 hours.
2. Are you wasting water? If you have a meter fitted, you can see how much you are using and be able to monitor your consumption.
3. You can save a lot of water & energy by reducing the number of times you wash up in a day. Only wash-up when you have a bowl full. Odd bits and pieces can wait.
4. A leaking tap that fills a coffee cup in 10 minutes will waste an estimated 3,000 gallons of water per year.
5. Wash your vegetables into a bowl so you can water the plants with that water, instead of pouring it down the drain.
6. Collect rainwater and use on the garden as well any used washing up water.
7. Save energy – wash the dark coloured clothes on 30 degrees

Recycling

1. Recycling – Please note the Vale Wildlife Hospital at Beckford would welcome your old newspapers and stamps. These can either be taken to the hospital (open all the time) or dropped at their shop in the High Street.
2. To reduce the amount of plastic going to landfill save your clean paper bags to go shopping with you and say no to plastic bags. Some shops do provide brown bags but not all.
3. To avoid plastic why not purchase milk etc, from your local milkman who reuses glass bottles.
4. Please pass medication blister packs to Jean Davies – she has a contact in her village.
5. Empty toothpaste packaging and tubes, and old toothbrushes along with corks can be left in containers located at the Town Hall or placed in a paper envelope and posted through the letterbox if closed.
6. Used Postage Stamps We still continue to collect ‘used’ postage stamps which are recycled for charity. You can put them into the box in the foyer and I will collect them. Please leave at least inch, 25mm, or more, of paper around the stamp, any old unused stamps are welcomed as well. Thank you Patricia.
7. Use Eco Friendly Toilet Paper A lot of trees are cut down in order to make toilet paper rolls. It requires at least 17 trees and 90 to 92 litres of water for a tonne of paper rolls. As the average person uses 100 rolls in a year, using regular toilet paper is not a sustainable habit. Consumers could use eco friendly toilet paper made out of bamboo. As bamboo grows 39 inches within a 24 hour period, toilet paper made out of bamboo is a much more sustainable option compared to regular toilet paper.
8. Keep your plastic bags, bread bags etc and recycle at the supermarket bins.
9. Avoid sending any plastic packaging to the tip via your bin by returning it to local supermarkets where they have receptacles for it.
10. Flatten your cardboard boxes and squash your plastic bottles before putting in the recycling bin.
11. Recycle any brand of razor or razor blades for free via the Gillette website. Each household can request 4 envelopes per year, and you can send a maximum of 16 razors and/or razor blades in each envelope. Order your recycling envelope though the GILLETTE® WEBSITE.
12. Just a reminder we are asked to observe the function of the various wheelie bins:
    * Green- Anything that cannot be recylced and will be sent to landfill.
    * Brown- Strictly garden waste.

    * Blue- Recyclable materials. It is important to adhere to this format. If any wrong items are put into a bin it will not be emptied.

13. Consider using reusable containers for water and hot drinks rather than one use plastic. Be kind to the environment.

BLISTER PACKS – We no longer have contacts to re-cycle blister packs unfortunately.

 Shopping

1. Upgrade your computer or mobile phone rather than buying new ones. Buy refurbished equipment instead of new.
2. Do not waste food. Buy only what your need. If there are special offers go for them but freeze the extra quantities to make a meal another day.
3. When shopping at the supermarket for fruit and vegetables take a some brown paper bags with you to avoid using the supermarket plastic bags.
4. Buy your staples locally and plastic free. At the E-shop in Barton street, Tewkesbury you can buy dried fruit, cereals, nuts, vinegars and oils etc. Take your own containers or brown bags and have the satisfaction of knowing your purchases are plastic free and you only buy the amount you need.
5. You can save money by ensuring you use all the product in a plastic tube – such as toothpaste - before buying another. Cut them open up to a third of the way up to access all the unused product.
6. Plan your meals to avoid waste. Did you know that in the UK 20 million whole slices of bread are thrown away every day?
7. Use greaseproof paper instead of clingfilm to wrap food.
8. Give loved ones experiences rather than things e.g. theatre trips, boat trip on the river or a meal out. If its got to be a thing house plants are always a good option.
9. Before buying any more new clothes try to not buy for a year or if that’s too big a challenge try for a month or use the charity shops.
10. Next time you have the impulse to buy a new book to read borrow it from the Library or a friend or try a second hand book shop instead of buying a new one.
11. Stop drinking bottled water-use tap water or buy a water filter.
12. Bathroom cleaners - It’s time to ditch the harsh chemical cleaners! Switch to plant powered cleaners ‘kissed’ with essential oils for the non-porous surfaces. Plus, it’s safer for you, your family and the planet.
13. Ditch disposables for reusables to help reduce waste and save resources. Switch to reusable water bottles, coffee cups, and grocery bags. Just remember to wash them regularly – nobody wants a stinky container!
14. Did you know that embracing a plant-based diet can help animals and the environment? By reducing your consumption of animal products, you can save resources, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and, of course, protect our animal friends. Plus, plants are delicious! (Shh, don't tell them we said that.)
15. Consider using plastic free paper and plastic free Sellotape to wrap you parcels and presents. Be kind to the environment.
16. I am sure you know that BNatural in Barton Street is closing its doors, and I am very sad because I just can't see myself going back to buying stuff in plastic packages, or not reusing the plastic bottles for liquids. So I have started thinking and have come up with some ideas. If you are interested, or have any other ideas, please contact me Sophie Franklin.

General Tips

1. In order to maintain oxygen levels keep some live indoor plants in your home. They brighten up the room too!
2. A can of cola in the loo overnight helps remove limescale and discolouration.
3. Help the Bees. Don’t mow the lawn, leaving even part of your garden to grow wild, can help pollinating insects, like bees, thrive.
4. Plastic bags are appallingly wasteful to the environment. It is believed that 100 billion plastic shopping bags are used in America each year, and only 1-3% of worldwide plastic bags are recycled. This means a huge amount of waste, much of which ends up in landfill and wild areas.
   
5. Use banana skins chopped up to put around your roses giving them a potassium rich tonic. The skins can be soaked in a jam jar with water for a few days then, drained and the water added to the plant water for a tonic for indoor plants too.
6. The power of peel - l You will never throw away your orange peel again after discovering three great things you can do with it! By simply boiling orange peel in water for 15 minutes, leaving it to cool and pouring it into a spray bottle, you can create a clever mixture to use around your house. Spray liberally around your home to repel insects in summer, or use it as a natural insecticide by misting it over your plants. You can even use it to shine wooden surfaces by spraying it on and buffing with a cloth. Amazing!
7. If you are planning on using frozen food, defrost it ahead of time in the fridge or on the worktop to both halve the cooking time and avoid using the energy of the microwave to defrost more quickly.