About Eco Ernie
Our mission is to raise awareness of reusing and recycling to reduce landfill waste in a fun and innovative way.
Eco Ernie is our multi award winning innovative recycling project - with a difference!
Created by Southampton Solent University staff and students in 2009, Eco Ernie is the 'greenest milk float in the South', keeping the streets of Southampton free of household recyclables and unwanted items left by local students at the annual changeover period at the end of the academic year.
The summer months are a hectic time for students as many of them are moving in and out of their term-time homes. With over 2,500 students in the area, some rubbish is bound to be left behind, earning our students a poor reputation within the local area.
To take care of the rubbish situation, students are given yellow plastic recycling bags for their unwanted household items and recyclables. Eco Ernie, a recommissioned milk float, and his team of student, community, charity partner and staff volunteers make their way round the student areas, collecting the unwanted items – leaving the area clean and tidy. In 2011 we even included extra rounds to our halls of residences to collect yet more student recyclables and raise more money!
The items are sorted through by volunteers and local residents at the Central Baptist Church where the items are donated to charities linked with the project.
Bag It Up on behalf of Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance and SCRATCH have all benefitted from over 400 bags-worth of unwanted items. Items include clothes, books and electricals. The textile donations alone equate to over 3 tonnes each year and have become the single largest textile donation made to the Bag It Up campaign.
The project has been a huge success and has re-built relationships between students, local authorities and local residents, leading to a renewed sense of community in the area. "Southampton City Council is delighted to work with Southampton Solent University and its students to support Eco Ernie, which has helped keep Polygon clean and green. Partnership working is more important now than ever to the success of Southampton and working together with residents, the student union, University and Central Baptist Church will enable us to continue to make a difference to the local environment. Thank you Ernie!"
Lorraine Brown - Executive Director of Environment, Southampton City Council
Ernie has received national recognition, including the LGC Award for Community Involvement (2010) (Local Government Chronicle) for managing and improving waste and recycling, The Times Higher Education Award for Outstanding Community Involvement 2010 and the CIPR PRide Award for Best Community Relations campaign.
In 2011, Eco Ernie has been short-listed for the National Recycling Awards for Best Partnership Recycling Project for the collaboration with Southampton City Council. Louise Drake, Eco Ernie Co-Ordinator, was also named 'Outstanding non-teaching staff social entrepreneur' at the national Dare to be Different Conference – the culmination of a £1m programme delivered by UnLtd, the Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs and HEFCE.
We’re keen for Ernie to become an even greater success on a national scale. We want to bring Ernie to your University, charity, school or local council so you can have as much success as we have, keeping our local area green.
Contact Ernie's team on eco.ernie@solent.ac.uk| to find out more.