September’s Waste Thoughts – 2025

Our next Zoom meeting is on Tuesday 7th October 7pm – Please contact simongibbon@casav.uk for further details.

Full notes below, after a quick summary – follow links for the detail:

• Reduce / Reuse / Recycle / Circularity:
  • More options are coming up for reusing/recycling more items – such as bras
  • Recycling Week is 22nd – 28th September
  • Turn your excess wool into “Blankets for the World” to keep the homeless warm this winter
• Food:
  • Plastics and food – what are the risks?
  • If you want to avoid using plastic for food storage then look out for non-plastic freezer bags
• Textiles:
  • The Clothes Swap is an opportunity to get new to you clothes without sweat shop labour or resource consumption and save money at the same time
• CASaV Wide
  • There isn’t much recycling at local shows
  • Games catch people attention, at the shows we had a recycling game and a recycling quiz.
  • Dens as part of Forest Schools are great to help children develop, but in keeping their dens clean the soil suffers, so restoring the soil is great way to show how soil works with garden waste compost.

Actions

• Simon will look into what can be done going forward to better support the shows to obtain recycling facilities.
• Simon follow up with engagement of show committees to help them with recycling and environmental policies.
• Kate check on ability to recycle multiple blister packs at Boots.
• Fred send details of pen refilling.

Background – Our Monthly Waste Discussions

If you have just signed up to the Waste Group or stumbled across this page, then welcome, I hope these notes of our discussion make sense.

We meet once a month to talk about topics connected to waste and plan / report progress on our ongoing activities such as the Repair Cafes, Foodshare, Refill scheme and events such as the Bilsdale Show.  If you visit the “Thoughts on Waste” page on the CASaV website you can find all our past discussions – https://climateactionstokesleyandvillages.org/waste/thoughts-on-waste/

Please get in touch if you have any questions.

Notes form 9th September 2025 CASaV Waste

The meeting discussion ranged from the shows that Climate Action and Villages has recently had stalls at to the risks from plastics in contact with food.

Previous Actions

• Simon – update on risks of using plastics with food
  See section below.
• All – volunteers for Repair Cafe please contact Simon Gibbon – repaircafe@casav.uk
• All – volunteers for Clothes Swap please contact Jane Mercer and Jo Ackroyd – clothesswap@cassav.uk

Shows

Climate Action Stokesley and Villages had stalls at both Bilsdale (30th August) and Kildale (6th September) covering all of CASaV activities. Thank you to everybody who volunteered and helped at these stalls, both stalls were popular with many people seeking information on what we are doing and what they can do. Many also gave us their ideas and signed the “Planet over Profit” postcards in support of Friends of the Earth’s “Planet over Profit” lobbying.

• Jenny’s Recycling Game (“Play Your Waste Right”): This game was described as “brilliant” and “terrific”. It effectively engaged people at Kildale by asking them to guess which items were made from recycled materials, such as old fishing nets (e.g., Patagonia jacket), inner bike tubes (earrings), or cardboard (toilet roll, pen). Participants were amazed by items like the Patagonia jacket and loved the ocean plastics flask. The game introduced various recycling topics and encouraged people to see the purpose of recycling, promoting the idea of creating a market for recycled products. Jenny mentioned the need to be sensitive when discussing things like meat consumption in farming communities. The possibility of turning the game into a web page for future use was raised – Recycling Quiz – Which item is made from ….

• Helen Armond and Becky Wright’s Bean Bag Recycling Game: This game was also effective, particularly for “luring in” children and, by extension, their parents. Children threw bean bags, labelled with different recyclable items (e.g., soft plastics, batteries, glass, vegetable peelings), into designated areas. It was noted that most children knew what went into the recycling bins, especially blue bins, indicating that issues with incorrect items couldn’t be blamed on them.

• “How Long Things Take to Decompose” Idea: A suggestion was made to create an engagement activity around decomposition times. How about burying knickers (organic cotton for best results) to demonstrate soil activity, inspired by a farmer’s test where organic farms showed the most biodegradation – educational version.

• Lack of Recycling Facilities: Concerns were raised about the absence of recycling bins at Billsdale and Kildale shows, with only general rubbish bins available. Organisers at Billsdale reported struggling to get a response from anyone regarding recycling provisions. Wendy personally collected recyclable items in a bag at Bilsdale.

Action: Simon will look into what can be done going forward to better support the shows to obtain recycling facilities.

• Ryedale Show Experience: In contrast, Michelle coordinated recycling bins for the Ryedale show, working with the Malton Office, and Helmsley litter pickers volunteered, which may have helped. They even used lockable recycling bins to prevent contamination.

• Challenges with Events Recycling (North Yorkshire Council perspective): Events recycling is currently problematic as it hasn’t been harmonised across North Yorkshire Council. There’s an added complication with commercial waste, and contamination is a significant issue, with items like pizza boxes, dirty napkins, and hamburger boxes often ending up in recycling. Hopefully a standardised method for events recycling across North Yorkshire will be in place by next summer. The possibility of advertising for volunteer litter pickers for shows may get a different set of people involved.

• Show Committees and Environmental Policies: Simon suggested engaging show committees early to influence what trade people bring, such as prohibiting balloons and “silly string” due to their environmental impact. Bilsdale has adopted an environmental policy based on examples from other shows, and efforts are underway for Kildale to do the same. Is there the need for dedicated dog poo disposal points at shows?

Action: Simon follow up with engagement of show committees to help them with recycling and environmental policies.

• Council Contact for Events Recycling: It was agreed that a central contact point or online resource for event organisers seeking recycling bins and guidance from the council would be beneficial, as current systems are difficult to navigate.

• Reusable Cups: The use of reusable plastic pint-sized glasses for alcohol at other shows (e.g., Pickering) was mentioned as a positive example.

Updates (with bios)

• Simon

    ◦ As an ex-industrial chemist and leader of the waste group, organises the Stokesley and Village Repair Cafes.

    ◦ CASaV’s apple pressing sessions on 14th September and 16th October, encouraging people to bring their own bottles to use up excess apples and make juice.

    ◦ Following our discussion of plastic safety and food contact, last month, I created this AI-generated infographic on “The Savvy Consumer’s Guide to Safer Food Plastics” which is a summary of the 26 page report “The Unseen Contamination: A Comprehensive Risk Analysis of Plastics in Food Packaging, Storage, and Cooking” produced by Google Gemini. While glass, ceramic, and stainless steel are generally safe, some plastics like polystyrene (can leech styrene), polyethylene terephthalate (moderate risk due to antimony catalyst), and especially PVC (associated with phthalates) are of concern. Heat is the biggest factor in plastic additive migration and so probably a good ides to avoid heating food in plastic or using damaged containers.

    ◦ Clothes swap on 27th September, aimed at encouraging shopping alternatives and reducing textile impact – here.

• Kate

    ◦ Kate helps with the repair cafe and produces the newsletter.

    ◦ Sadly that Rymans and Staples have stopped recycling pens due to a terminated Terracycle contract. We could look at sponsorship of a Terracycle collection bag, costing around £30.

    ◦ Bra recycling bins are available at Mowbray House Surgery, with proceeds going to Breast Cancer Research.

    ◦ For National Recycling Week (22nd-28th September) – WRAP & RecycleNow, there will be library displays (Stokesley and Great Ayton) highlighting local non-bin recycling options, such as opticians for glasses and bra banks – .

    ◦ “Blankets for the World” run by Redcar Palace (Blankets for Teesside), is asking for knitted 20cm squares for the homeless by 8th November, and accepts wool donations.

    ◦ Collecting soft toys for recently displaced Ukrainian children, please get in touch with Kate if you have any to donate.

    ◦ We could do a Halloween costume drop-off and take-away at the October repair cafe (11th), and a similar initiative for Christmas jumpers at the November repair cafe.

    ◦ Patchwork kits “fat quarters” (small packs of scrap fabric), preferably cotton or polycotton, from donated material to be given away with instructions at the September repair cafe, to encourage hobbies and use up fabric scraps.

    ◦ Collecting blister packs via a collection box at Stokesley Library and takes them to Boots in Northallerton, noting public demand for this service. Going to Boots in Northallerton to check on their capacity for large quantities of blister packs. It is important that all pills are removed. There is a blog here which talks about Boots recycling schemes.

Action: Kate check on ability to recycle multiple blister packs at Boots.

• Helen

    ◦ Helen is a biologist who primarily works with the nature group but has a broad interest in all environmental groups.

• Wendy

    ◦ Wendy’s interest in ecology began 60 years ago, and she co-leads the food group with Jenny, with a strong passion for waste avoidance.

• David

    ◦ David worked as a material scientist for ICI, specialising in plastics and polymers.

    ◦ The level of public skepticism regarding recycling and green issues is concerning, and whether data exists on this. Tracey mentioned past surveys showed many believe recycling ends up in landfill, but the council tries to counter this with website information on recycling destinations. Smaller refuse bins are a major incentive for recycling, though this will be a slow process.

• Michelle

    ◦ Michelle is the Waste Prevention and Recycling Officer for North Yorkshire Council, covering Scarborough, Ryedale, and Richmond. Her background includes community engagement in nuclear waste and voluntary coordination.

    ◦ Jeff Coates as North Yorkshire Rotter specifically promotes food waste reduction, but there’s a crossover with her focus on plastics and waste prevention.

    ◦ We have a game called “Play Your Cards Right”, around waste prevention.

    ◦ With Tracey working on piloting reusable nappies and period products incentives across North Yorkshire, expanding from the Selby-only cashback scheme (one of the schemes across the UK).

    ◦ Piloting a “reuse, rewear, re-scare” Halloween costume swap in Scarborough libraries, where people can drop off or pick up costumes. Turn out Northallerton, Selby and Ripon are also doing this – Northern Echo.

    ◦ Been researching nappy libraries, noting that the Hambleton Nappy Library seems unresponsive, but has connected with one covering Ripon/Harrogate and another in York that is willing to share surplus nappies and expertise.

• Jenny

    ◦ Jenny co-leads the food group with Wendy and coordinates the rescue of surplus food from local shops for charities.

    ◦ Glut of apples giving the excess away having set up a box on the low green.

    ◦ Concerned about the potential health impacts of plastic particles, linking them to conditions like Alzheimer’s, and so avoiding plastics in our home. Disappointed that the council uses plastic water bottles at meetings, despite requests for glass alternatives.

    ◦ As an alternative to plastic bags using these bags for freezing – https://www.peacewiththewild.co.uk/product/bio-freezer-food-bags-2l/. They are plant based, and Strikes in Stokesley stock them.  Hopefully they are a less damaging alternative to plastic? There are other eco freezer bags available.(!)

• Fred

    ◦ Fred is part of the Giusborough Eco Group.

    ◦ The BikeBus project now has all the paperwork is in place for the school to adopt it, with a meeting scheduled for Thursday – Highcliffe School Bike Bus.

    ◦ Regarding the incinerator (TVERF), Newcastle voted against it (Recycle Now), but the council may still proceed due to deep financial involvement.

    ◦ Analysed recycling rates(blog item), it appears that a change in the council’s testing procedure has led to a worse recycling rate. Going to publish this information to convince councillors against the incinerator.

    ◦ Reusable nappy advertising should be in doctors’ surgeries as a potential route to increase demand.

    ◦ A person in Giusborough can refill pens, offering an alternative to sending them for recycling.

Action: Fred send details of pen refilling.

• Pete

    ◦ Pete is interested in low-energy housing and green issues and is actively involved with CASaV. He will be squeezing apples in a couple of weeks.

    ◦ Forest School project where children building dens have denuded a woodland floor. Plan to engage the children in studying soil creation and use a 5-ton load of composted garden waste (from council bins, via Tom Seymour) to repair damaged areas, planting bluebell seeds. This project, in collaboration with ‘Wisdom of the Woods’, aims to inspire primary schools to designate woodland areas for learning.

• Joy

    ◦ Making a lot of marrow soup and has an excess of marrows if anyone is interested.

Matters Arising

Repair Cafes: Stokesley Repair Cafe on 9th August had a good attendance, with lots of people arriving early and then fewer people later on (statistics). The Planet over Profit campaign was highlighted and the Environment Agency attended to raise the issue of flood resilience. Next repair cafe at Swainby Village Hall on 20th September then Stokesley Library on 11th October.

Meetings

CASaV Group Meeting – 16th September Stokesley Library – 7.30pm

Clothes Swap – 27th September – 1pm – St Joseph’s Stokesley

AOB

Next Meeting

Tuesday 7th October 7pm – Please contact simongibbon@casav.uk for further details.