Ernie gets the green light
June 24 2009
Southampton Solent University has unveiled its latest recycling weapon, Ernie…the greenest milk float in the South.
Ernie the eco float hit Southampton's streets this week to collect student cast-offs, in a bid to clean-up the Polygon. He was launched following feedback from residents last year who were amazed at the amount of perfectly good household items left behind as students moved out.
The battery powered former milk float started his rounds for the run-up to change-over period - when students generate extra rubbish as they move out before summer break.
Within days, Ernie - with green-minded students, members of the City Council's waste and recycling department and residents - picked up more than 150 bags bursting with stuff from students and non-student residents, ranging from files to flippers and pans to plimsolls.
The innovative project – a collaboration with Solent University and its Students’ Union - is supported by Southampton City Council and Bag it up (raising money to run the Hampshire and Isle of Wight air ambulance).
After the change-over collections, residents, staff, students, council workers, and clergy will be sorting through the recyclables at Devonshire Central Baptist Church, before it goes to charity.
And, after just a short break, Ernie will be back on the streets again, as he gears up for regular recycling collections for Polygon residents and students in the autumn.
Southampton Solent University Community Liaison Officer, Melissa Reddington-Cartmell, said: “Our Ernie is great. He’s cheap, useful and environmentally friendly. We named him after comedy hero, Benny Hill, whose character, Ernie, famously drove the fastest milk float in the west. Solent now has the greenest.”
Councillor Matt Dean, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport at Southampton City Council, said: "This is a great project which the council is delighted to support. I’m sure this scheme will have a great impact in the Polygon."
Danielle Mugridge from Bag it up added: “Bag It Up are delighted that the students of Solent University are using this scheme to help raise vital funds for the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance.”
Ernie will be collecting glass, paper, textiles, electrical items - such as toasters, kettles and microwaves – and pots, pans and crockery, with as many as possible being recycled or given to charity.
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