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Brownie Points for Eco Project
1
Jan�
2009
Brownie points all round for Isles of Scilly eco project
The Isles of Scilly�s Brownie troop has raised �500 from a green initiative which brings together the AONB unit, the island�s church charity shop, the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company, Tesco and Oxfam.
The project has a very simple aim, to reuse Tesco delivery trays and ship unwanted clothing and goods to the mainland for distribution through Oxfam charity shops.
Tesco ships a considerable amount of groceries to the residents of the isles in green plastic trays, many of which are never returned. The trays come at a cost to Tesco and although the company encourages all customers to return them very few actually make it back to the store.
In tandem with this problem, the islands church charity shop is inundated with a whole range of items that have been donated by residents and haven�t been sold. Rather than letting the items go to waste it was felt that there could be a way of making use of the unwanted goods.
Last autumn a partnership initiative was devised, which not only provides a method of transporting the trays back to the mainland, but also means that the trays go back with a purpose.
An agreement between Tesco, Oxfam and the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company has produced a perfect solution to the problem. Now any unsold items can be resorted by the islands Brownie troop, packaged in the Tesco trays and transported back to the mainland on Scillonian III to be redistributed by Oxfam. After Oxfam have emptied the trays they will be returned to the Tesco store and the cycle starts again.
Since the project was launched last autumn the brownies have filled 134 crates with charity goods and a further 250 empties have been collected and returned to Tesco.
As a measure of support for this environmental community project, Tesco has awarded the ANOB a cheque for �500 to acknowledge the great work done so far. All funds raised by the project will be used towards the costs to transport the boxes to the quay and to support other environmental awareness projects between the ANOB and the Brownies.
Clare Lewis Environmental Awareness Co-ordinator from the Isles of Scilly ANOB and Brown Owl Fiona Robson came up with the idea for the project, Clare said: �We saw this opportunity as a way of getting lots of organisations working together towards a more sustainable future with healthy partnerships and positive action within the locality.
�As well as this, the brownies continue their awareness programme, learning about the value of resources and the beautiful environment that we live in. This initiative addresses two issues at one time; working towards minimising waste that our already pressured infrastructure has to deal with and it extends the possible lifespan of unwanted, but good quality charity goods to the wider demographic of the mainland community.
Fiona Robson, Brown Owl of the Isles of Scilly Brownie troop added: �The brownies are integral to the project by helping with the sorting and packaging of quality re-usable goods that would otherwise go to waste, it�s great for them to get hands on and really see the benefit of what they are doing in their community.�
All Tesco customers across the islands are called on to leave their green Tesco trays outside the old Katie bus shed, Porthcressa, where they will be packed with excess charity goods for Oxfam in support of this worthy community initiative that benefits all.
Jeff Marston, Chief Executive of Isles of Scilly Steamship Company concluded: �This is a wonderful initiative and we are delighted to be able to be a part of it by transporting the trays back to Penzance on Scillonian III free of charge. I hope there will be other partner initiatives that we can work on together to make a real difference.�
Ends
Notes to Editors:
Photography
An image to accompany this press release is attached and shows Brown Owl Fiona Robson with Clare Lewis of AONB and Amy Hiron of the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company with two of Isles of Scillies Brownies with their cheque from Tesco.
For more information contact:
Shelley Fletcher
PR for Isles of Scilly Steamship Company
01208 77900 / 07796 175634
[email protected]
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