The Big Swap proves a success
14 Feb 2011
Over 100 local people attended the ‘Big Swap’ at Chats Palace on Saturday 12th February, a free event hosted by our community regeneration charity, Newlon Fusion, and environmental charity, Global Action Plan.
Image: Eco Family with employees from Newlon Fusion, Newlon Housing Trust and Global Action Plan.
500,000 tonnes of unwanted clothing ends up in landfill each year and this event encouraged people to re-use and recycle their unwanted belongings instead of throwing them away. Donations were received from the public who swapped their unwanted items with other donated items that they would find useful such as children’s toys, clothes, bags, DVD’s, books and homeware. Most of the items were swapped and anything that was left at the end of the day was donated to local charity shops.
The event raised interest in Newlon Fusion's campaign for residents of Newlon and the wider community. Part of the campaign is to help people 'save money and promote green living and recycling' and this includes Newlon’s Eco Family. Liz Folaranmi and her children were picked from dozens of Newlon residents to be energy champions and show other residents how they are saving money on their energy and fuel bills by being ‘more green’ in their home. Global Action Plan send them monthly challenges around areas such as recycling, re-using and composting, which the family then report on through an online diary. You can follow Liz and her family by visiting the Eco Family pages.
Image: Children learn about composting at a stall at the Big Swap.
Liz Folaranmi, the Eco Family mum, who came to the Big Swap said; “I think it was a fantastic event and a great way to save money. These events are a great way to get rid of things that you no longer need but that could be valuable to other people. It’s also great to get things that you need for free!”
Image: Eco Family swap bags!
Regeneration Project Officer for Newlon Fusion, Ketra Najjingo said; “The event was really fun and focussed on sharing and reducing waste. Our campaign objective is to help people 'save money and promote green living and recycling'. We managed to re-direct a lot of good quality items from landfill and I know that many of the items were taken by people who really need them.”
For more information about how Newlon Fusion can help you save money and help save the environment visit our Anti-fuel poverty campaign pages on this website.
For all other enquiries see our Contact us page.
