Carolin from AiT working with Steve from Amersham Town Council to sort the recycling
Volunteers from Amersham in Transition rolled up their sleeves to ensure all glass, plastic bottles, and drinks cans were recycled at the Amersham Community Clean Up Day on Sunday 25th April. As a result 16 sacks of recyclable waste were saved from landfill. AiT worked proactively with Amersham Town Council to co-ordinate recycling at each of the three registration stations around the town.
AiT volunteers Charlotte and Romeo who manned the station in Old Amersham reported “We woke up and saw the rain and thought ‘Oh no!’ but were really impressed with the 40+ volunteers aged from 2 to 80 who turned up to help, some even arriving bang on time at 9am! With Councillor Martin King and Judy organising the teams we collected about 15 bags of rubbish and 10 of recycling which Romeo checked to ensure it was only recyclables. The teams starting returning from 11am onwards a bit rained on but in good spirits. Many people were impassioned about the state of the town, in particular the fly-tipping by Amersham Hospital, the sheer amount of Tesco trolleys and bags in the rivers and the piles of cigarette butts outside the pubs along the high street. One dad and his two daughters had been right into the river to retrieve some of the plastic bags and trolleys!”
At Amersham Common, rain perturbed many helpers from venturing out to collect litter, but this did not stop AiT volunteer Carolin Sommer who confessed to finding it strangely therapeutic. She said “I was shocked by the amount of stuff that had been piling up for years (we found beer bottles with a sell by date of 2005!) and to see just piles and piles of cigarette packets, sweet wrappers and drink bottles strewn over the footpaths. We could have done with a team of 50, but even with just three of us we managed to make a difference.”
The third station at Amersham on the Hill was manned by AiT volunteer Sue Gammons with Mayor Martin Phillips, Brian Woods, chairman of Amersham Action Group and local Police Community Support Officer, Bab Soledolu. She said “Amersham in Transition were really pleased to work in partnership with Amersham Town Council to promote recycling during the clean up day and contribute to improving the environment within the town.”
Our efforts were highly appreciated by Amersham Town Council. Steve Catanach from the council wrote to say “Thank you for your very kind help in making the Community Clean Up Day on Sunday a great success … we can safely say that we achieved our aim with your valued help.”
Romeo sorting the recycling in Old Amersham
Charlotte co-ordinating recycling at Old Amersham
Litter picking at Amersham Common
