Thanks to Anna, a dedicated volunteer, last month the Refill campaign came to Essex, launching in Colchester.

Inspired by the amount of plastic waste, Anna wanted to do something in her local area to help reduce it. So she created “a modern solution to a modern problem.”

Refill is a national campaign with the aim to make refilling your water bottle as convenient as possible. Refill points have been set up across the country in restaurants, shops and other businesses to provide tap water for free.

To get involved all you need to do is download the app and start searching for your local Refill stations.

The message is simple: buy a reusable water bottle instead of a single use one and refill for free over and over at any of the participating locations. Save the environment by saving money.

Compost giveaways a huge success

Last week was International Compost Awareness Week. To celebrate, we organised 8 events across Essex to offer local residents free compost.

Thankfully, the weather was particularly hot, which meant even more people came to collect the soil improver made from the garden waste you all recycled.

Hundreds of Essex residents filled the back of their cars with quality soil improver and learned how garden waste is composted in large rows called windrows by Tamar Energy. The facility is located in Ongar and the process can be quicker than 4 months.

Why not create compost yourself? You can get started with a reduced price bin and we’ve even pulled together some useful hints and tips on how to get the most out of your compost bin.

Why not join a local Freegle group?

Freegle makes it really easy to pass on your unwanted but useable items. Simply post a message on Freegle offering the item(s), then choose and respond to someone who wants to come and collect.

So find your local Freegle group and get searching and posting. It’s the ideal alternative to visiting a recycling centre this coming bank holiday. Please always check the opening times of your nearest site before visiting.

Repair Cafe hit their target!

Congratulations to Cornerstone Church in Black Notley. With your help they have successfully reached their crowdfunding target of just under £800. The funds will help purchase much needed equipment to increase the number of items the cafe can repair.

The café is a community service run by members of the Church. Residents can drop in to the repair café and get their broken household items fixed for FREE, in the hope of keeping them out of landfill!

If you have a good idea that can improve your local area and support those that live with in it, you should check out how you could raise funds through The Essex Crowd.

Mythbuster: Are wet wipes recyclable?

No. Wet wipes contain plastics that are not recyclable and so should be placed in your general waste. Better yet, don’t use them at all and choose reusable alternatives instead.

On a more encouraging note the government has announced it hopes to eliminate wet wipes in Britain under latest plans to fight the war on ‘single use plastics’. The announcement was prompted after a study found piles of flushed wet wipes are changing the shape of the River Thames.