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Santa Goes Green
| Published: 28th November 2008 11:51 |
Portsmouth City Council
Santa has agreed to swap his traditional red suit for a green one - to help spread the recycling message.His new look will be seen next week in his Green Grotto - a fun way of encouraging residents, especially kids, to think about the environment after the festive fun.
The Green Grotto, created and staffed by elves from Portsmouth City Council, will be unveiled on 1 December at 11am in Guildhall Square.
The grotto will then visit shopping centres as follows, from 11am to 4pm:
- 6 December at Palmerston Road
- 7 December at Milton Park (for Christmas tree dressing)
- 13 December at Cosham High Street
- 14 December at Gunwarf Quays
Santa's helper Gemma Hardman, from the council's recycling team, said: "We're so glad that Santa agreed to wear a special green suit for our Green Grotto visits.
"When he goes back to his normal duties he'll be back in red, of course.
"Children will be able to visit Santa in the grotto and get a gift, as long as they bring a bit of rubbish to recycle and put it in one Santa's wheelie bins.
"There will also be a chance for them to make their own recycled wrapping paper from newspapers, magazines and scrap paper.
"And there will be an opportunity for grown-ups to pick up tips on recycling, chat to the elves about enjoying a greener Christmas, and enter a competition to win a bike, sponsored by Veolia, our waste collection contractor."
Ideal items to pop into Santa's wheelie bins include paper, newspaper, cardboard, cans, tins and plastic bottles. If children don't have a suitable item, the elves will be able to help.
Cllr Jason Fazackarley, the council's cabinet member for environment and community safety, said: "The recycling team have been really imaginative in coming up with this idea.
"Portsmouth people are really good when it comes to recycling, but not everyone has got the message, and we can all do with some extra tips. This is a fun way of spreading the word.
"Christmas is a great time to think about recycling, because we all generate so much rubbish in such a short time."
A recycling roadshow will also be visiting supermarkets next month to offer shoppers help on being green, with a theme based on the 12 days of Christmas. They will also be offering giveaway goodies such as reusable bags.
The roadshow will be at stores from 3pm to 7pm, as follows:
- 3 December at Sainsbury's, Commercial Road
- 4 December at Somerfield, North End
- 5 December at Waitrose, Southsea
- 8 December at Sainsbury's, Farlington
Here are some of Green Santa's top festive tips:
Compost your Christmas tree
Over the festive period Portsmouth people will put up about 40,000 real Christmas trees. But what happens to them once the holidays are over?
Portsmouth City Council has the answer - a special Christmas tree composting day on Sunday 4 January 2009.
From 9am to 2pm residents will be able to take their tree to either Burrfields Road recreation ground car park in Copnor or Victoria Avenue car park (opposite the Holiday Inn) in Southsea. The council's contractors will then take it away to be shredded and then composted.
The service, which was very popular last year, is in addition to the usual composting service at the household waste recycling centre at Port Solent. This is open from 8am to 4pm every day, except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.
More Christmas composting
- Instead of binning the vegetable peelings from your Christmas dinner, why not compost them? Add them to your compost heap, or start a new one, and by next Christmas you'll have free, nutritious compost to help your garden bloom.
- You can also compost eggshells from eggnog, cardboard tubes from rolls of aluminium foil, Christmas tree needles and even those post-Christmas credit card bills (after they've been paid and shredded).
- You can get a cut-price compost bin from £17 including delivery. Just call 0845 077 0757 or visit www.recyclenow.com/compost to order or to get more composting tips.
Christmas cards yes, gift-wrap no
Over Christmas Portsmouth residents will send five million cards, and receive about the same amount.
Christmas cards and envelopes can be recycled using your wheelie bin or box. Or look out for charity recycling schemes run with high street stores, such as the one organised by the Woodland Trust.
Unfortunately, the council can't recycle Christmas gift-wrapping. This is because most of it contains plastics, foil and waxes which mean it can't be recycled.
More seasonal tips
- To make room for all your children's new toys, take old, unwanted ones to a charity shop where they will be given a good home. Or contact a kids' club to see if they can use them.
- Make room for this season's latest trends by clearing out your wardrobe and taking unwanted clothes to a textile collection point or your charity shop.
- Make use of your local recycling bank, or those at all the big supermarkets, to recycle all the glass jars and bottles that you get through over the festive period. The council will empty the bottle banks more frequently over Christmas, but if your local one does get full, please don't leave glass on the pavement.
- Make a New Year's resolution to recycle more stuff, more often.
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