Ernie to the rescue
Friday 1 July 2011
Now in its third year, Eco Ernie, an award-winning re-commissioned milkfloat, and a team of volunteers have been scouring the Polygon area of the city centre to collect unwanted goods to tidy up the streets during the annual changeover period when students move in and out of rented houses at the end of the academic year. The project encourages a resourceful approach to recycling for students and raises money for campaigns such as ‘Bag It Up’ for the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance.
Pat Middlewick, 78, local resident, says: “We have a lovely time sorting through the items, the project is well worth it and you’d be surprised at what we’re finding. I’ve been doing it for a few years now and I love it.”
A special ‘Big Sort’ event was held culminating in a ‘Resale Day’ on Friday 1July 2011 at Central Baptist Church on Devonshire Road. Whilst most items are passed to charities for their own fundraising, some of the more desirable items were resold to the community and local students in a table-top sale- from designer leather jackets and brand-name suits to books and kitchenware, even a pink inflatable chair was donated to sell! Some of the many duvets collected will also go to provide bedding for horses via a student entrepreneurship project called The Horse Power Company.
A favourite with the community, Eco Ernie has a wealth of eager followers including Recycle Lou, a Southampton schools enviro-champ, who was on hand to help with the sorting of the bags and found some treasures amongst the unused items.
Danielle Mugridge from the Bag It Up campaign said: “It’s been absolutely brilliant. Bag It Up and Eco Ernie last year sourced over three tonnes of textiles and we were able to make the largest single textile donation the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance it has ever received - projects like this really help our charities.”
Roger Leppard of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance added: “The response to this campaign has been stunningly good. Students participating are helping to fund the air ambulance, and in turn, are saving lives.”
The students’ recyclable items also help towards other local charities such as SCRATCH (Southampton City and Region Action to Combat Hardship). Michael Smith of SCRATCH said: “We are a long-time supporter of re-use. We deal with people on a limited budget with few possessions so anything that can be reused is a real benefit to our people.”
Eco Ernie is a collaborative project between Southampton Solent University and its Students’ Union whilst working closely with Southampton City Council and a number of local charities to improve student waste issues. Students, staff, council employees and members of the community volunteer their time to help drive the milk-float and sort through the donations which provides charities such as Bag It Up (Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance) with annual donations that make a significant impact.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT THE MEDIA OFFICE ON 023 8031 9038 OR email amber.wilson@solent.ac.uk||
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Eco-Ernie has been shortlisted for the 2011 National Recycling Awards.
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Eco Ernie co-ordinator, Louise Drake, was recently 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.