Image: Shutterstock / HSSstudio
Back for its ninth year, the Great British Spring Clean is showing communities how the environment belongs to everyone.
The campaign is run by Keep Britain Tidy and is taking place currently until the end of March, and encourages people to clean up their communities and pick up litter.
With their new recycling area, we’re encouraging residents at Rackfield Court in Barnstaple to take part in the spring clean thanks to their communal garden’s new makeover.
After asking us for a new recycling store, Dan and Ed, residents at Rackfield Court, said: “The wind has been atrocious and normally there would be rubbish and recycling everywhere in the car park, the storage has kept it all nice and neat and not once has anything came out.
“Thank you so much for the hard work LiveWest did on the recycling build. Not only is it much more accessible and easier to get to than what we had before it totally does its job plus more.
“The build and look of it is much better than what we imagined and, I have witnessed more people from the block actually using it so that is good too. So again, thank you for taking the time to build the recycling bunker. We both love it.”
Thanks to our Estate Improvement fund, 24 flats are enjoying the new outside area including the garden and using their new recycling store to help the environment.
The contractor WMS (Westcountry Maintenance Services Ltd) undertook the work which took around a week in total to install and complete.
Simon Cohen, our Community Connector, said: “It has been a pleasure to work with several local residents to improve the look of the area, to help encourage and increase recycling at Rackfield Court.
“It has been great to see the recycling looking neat and tidy and staying in the new designated storage area, especially during this stormy weather period, where recycling containers would have been strewn across the parking area and garden as they were left loose by the side of the kerb.
“Housing Officer Dean and I have seen an immediate improvement in the area and increase in recycling by the residents, and we thank them for their help and support. I would also like to thank the North Devon Council Waste and Recycling Team for their assistance with this, having agreed to the new collection points for the domestic waste and recycling.”
LiveWest recognises its responsibility to have a positive impact on our planet and therefore, 100 per cent of its waste is diverted from landfill across its main offices.
By Creating Greener Futures Together, our Cby28 project is part of our journey to be Net Zero by 2050 and helps our residents reduce the carbon footprint of their homes whilst saving money on energy bills. We are taking steps to retrofit 8,000 of our least energy-efficient homes to help the environment and reduce energy costs.
Kirstin Miller, our resident at Rackfield Court, said: “The recycle store has made a massive improvement already, it looks very neat and tidy. The recycling boxes were an eyesore and spoilt the seating and garden area, also creating a nuisance with rubbish blowing around the garden and car park.
“Having some of the boxes on a raised shelf makes it more accessible and easier to use. The area looks much better, and the garden area can be used for plants again as the boxes were taking up a lot of the garden space.
“The seating area will be nicer to sit in and enjoy the plants that some of the residents put a lot of effort into looking after. I like that a gutter has been added to allow rainwater to be collected for the garden. This makes a nice addition to the planters that have been built. With spring here this will be a nice area for residents to use and enjoy.”
To improve the environment, our colleagues’ uniforms include eco-conscious footwear made from recycled plastic and green polo tops made from a blend of organic cotton and polyester made from recycled plastic bottles.
The uniform packaging is transitioned from recycled plastic uniform delivery bags to cardboard boxes, significantly reducing single-use plastic consumption.
All cardboard is recycled at the supplier’s warehouse, and plastic is collected for waste-to-energy incineration. We also offer estate clearance and recycling education days throughout the year.
