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To: CANTERBURY CITY COUNCIL, UKC, CCCU, UCA, GAUC, CHAUCER COLLEGE & OTHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS WITH STUDENTS RESIDING IN CANTERBURY

PETITION FOR AN OFFICIAL STUDENT GOODS RECYCLING SCHEME & YEAR ROUND FREE SHOPS ON CAMPUSES

We petition Canterbury City Council, UKC, CCCU, UCA, GAUC, Chaucer College and other educational institutions in the city of Canterbury, Kent to create an official end of year student goods recycling scheme and year round on campus free shops. Furthermore we ask that an official well publicised scheme be in place by the next major student relocation commencing in May 2018.

Why is this important?

The GREEN Team Canterbury, a local voluntary community group, has worked hard for the past few years to expose the enormous amount of perfectly good items going to waste in landfill during student relocation, which begins in May every year and continues over a period of about three weeks. The waste is plain to see but we have found much of the contents of bins and sacks is not RUBBISH!

These include:

CROCKERY, CUTLERY, POTS & PANS, ELECTRICALS, ELECTRONICS, CLOTHES, SHOES, BAGS, CDS & DVDS, JEWELLRY, BRIC A BRAC, SOFT FURNISHINGS, TOWELS, BOOKS, STATIONERY, BEDDING, AND NON-PERISHABLE FOOD.

The sheer amount being thrown out is mind boggling, both on and off campuses, and would inundate our city's charity shop sector. Many students have no way of getting their unwanted possessions to them anyway. Added to this is the fact that most of this stuff is ideal for the following year’s students and we think that these items should be available in year round on campus free shops. There were many smiling faces when these items were redistributed at our Pop-up Free Shops over the past three summers. There was also shock that these items, some even new and unused (still sealed in their packaging!), were headed to landfill until they were covertly intercepted by The GREEN Team Canterbury.

So much more could be achieved with an official well publicised scheme that doesn’t require going through contaminated rubbish to recycle unwanted stuff. There are already numerous schemes operating both nationally and globally. This is not rocket science. This can be done.

We have been in contact with Canterbury City Council and local educational institutions for some time but unfortunately no scheme as yet has been planned. We are therefore petitioning the above to show the amount of support for a scheme and to spur them into action. Councils are being required to reduce landfill and may face penalties for non compliance with both national and Europe wide targets. Meanwhile our planet and its people are crying out for change. This would be good for all, especially the following year’s students. We think all the parties involved should work together and create a viable official and well publicised scheme in time for the next student relocation in May 2018.

So please show your support and sign this petition as well as share it widely, thanks.

Best wishes,
Mark & Diane, co-founders,
The GREEN Team Canterbury
http://www.facebook.com/thegreenteamcanterbury
[email protected]
http://thegreenteamcanterbury.zohosites.com
#thegreenteamcanterburypetition

Canterbury, Kent

Maps © Stamen; Data © OSM and contributors, ODbL

Links

Campaign Facebook Page

Updates

2018-06-16 06:18:15 +0100

Any filmmakers who care about planet and community want to cover an event happening soon for us? Get in touch if so.

2018-04-19 08:56:32 +0100

Further to our last update, please note that although we were advised Canterbury City Council, UKC, and CCCU will be running a scheme this summer in conjunction with Necessary Furniture, further details have still not been given and we do not know the efficacy and extent of what is planned. Plus we would like a wider Canterbury educational institution and community involvement. So please keep those signatures coming and share in any way you all can in order to show support for an official well run and well publicised scheme. Thanks ever so much.
Best wishes,
Diane & Mark, co-founders
The GREEN Team Canterbury

2018-04-17 10:16:02 +0100

Thanks, everyone, for signing! We seem to be stuck at 740 signatures. Can you help unstick us? In any way you can please. 1000 would be grand and be a great show of support for change.
Best wishes,
Diane & Mark, co-founders
The GREEN Team Canterbury

2018-02-28 13:45:45 +0000

We’ve got over 700 signatures now! Thanks so much for supporting this petition, as well as the great comments we've had. We also have some good news. Due in part to our ongoing efforts at campaigning on this issue, we are pleased to announce that Canterbury City Council, UKC, and CCCU will be running a scheme this summer in conjunction with Necessary Furniture. We do not have many details at the moment but we will keep you all posted. In the meantime, please continue to share our petition as widely as you can, as we do not know the efficacy and extent of what is planned and would like to demonstrate a good show of support. Plus we would like a wider Canterbury educational institution and community involvement.
In gratitude,
Mark & Diane, co-founders
The GREEN Team Canterbury
We're on Facebook! Like us and stay in touch with developments at:
https://www.facebook.com/thegreenteamcanterbury/

2018-01-23 19:26:24 +0000

We've got 666 signatures - a devil of a number, ha! Thank you for signing and sharing the petition. Can you help us get more signatures though? Please try, by sharing as widely as you can. We need loads to push some action. Thanks!
Diane & Mark, co-founders
The GREEN Team Canterbury
We're on Facebook! Like us and stay in touch with developments at:
https://www.facebook.com/thegreenteamcanterbury/

2017-12-28 13:23:26 +0000

Thanks so much. You got us to over 600 signatures! We hope you are having a nice festive season. We need more signatures though, to push this. So please would you think of people and places to share this petition with. Plus perhaps add your own words when you share as this seems to really help get signatures. Together we can prevent an enormous amount of perfectly good items going to landfill at student relocation.
Thanks again!
Diane & Mark, co-founders
The GREEN Team Canterbury

2017-12-20 15:41:08 +0000

Thanks so much for your support and we really love the comments we've received! We would be ever so grateful if you could please continue sharing it as this would really help. As well as, most importantly, help prevent an enormous amount of perfectly good items (some even new and unused!) ending up in landfill come May. Please spread the word ... via social media, word of mouth, with your groups/societies, printing and posting up our petition etc etc. We've got 529 signatures yet need a lot more! We had absolutely loads of likes for a video about a mall where everything sold is recycled, upcycled, refurbished. Visit our Facebook page to see what engaged so many. If only all those likes were petition signatures!
With lots of green wishes,
Diane & Mark, co-founders
The GREEN Team Canterbury
We're on Facebook! Like us and stay in touch with developments at:
https://www.facebook.com/thegreenteamcanterbury/

2017-12-10 16:32:50 +0000

500 signatures reached

2017-12-06 16:15:26 +0000

HELP! Please share our petition, especially to Canterbury students and ex students. We know we have a lot of student support but it is proving difficult to reach them, so if you can help by championing this petition and sharing it as much as possible that would help us so much. Here is the link again: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/p/thegreenteamcanterburypetition
Thanks so much to those who have signed and shared, but we need a lot more to push this!
Diane & Mark, co-founders
The GREEN Team Canterbury

We're on Facebook! Like us and stay in touch with developments at:
https://www.facebook.com/thegreenteamcanterbury/

2017-12-01 03:38:46 +0000

Thanks so much for signing our UK only petition. If you haven't already, please would you share it, with your friends, family, connections, groups, societies etc. This would really help us, especially at the moment as Diane has been blocked by Facebook from joining or posting in groups until 7th December. This seems to be due to her ending up joining student societies, as reaching students to let them know about this campaign was proving difficult. We were concerned that this may not be good etiquette but we never dreamed Facebook would block her! So we really could do with your help. Here's a shorter link you can use to share the petition: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/p/thegreenteamcanterburypetition
Thanks again for your support!
Diane & Mark, co-founders
The GREEN Team Canterbury

2017-11-26 19:59:09 +0000

Woo hoo! Thanks to you all we now have over 400 signatures! Keep sharing...with your friends family , connections, societies, groups etc. Let's get this viral and let's have an official student goods recycling scheme and year round free shops on campuses in Canterbury. Maybe this will even spark similar in other university towns and cities! Thank you all so Very much for your support.
Best wishes for a green future -now!
Diane & Mark, co-founders
The GREEN Team Canterbury

P.S. There's a UKC People & Planet event 'Unsustainable UKC coming up on 29/11/17 at 6pm. Full details on UKC People &Planet's Facebook page, yet we are looking at UKC's sustainability score of 119 and seeing what can be done better to raise it.

2017-11-17 08:14:51 +0000

You got us past 300 signatures. Thank you all so very much! Please keep sharing with your friends and connections, wherever and whenever you can, as we need loads more to push this. We especially want to reach the students of Canterbury. Thanks again for your support. If you haven't already, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Diane & Mark, co-founders
The GREEN Team Canterbury

2017-11-09 14:00:34 +0000

Thanks, everyone! We're past 200 signatures now. We need many more though, to push this. So keep sharing, as widely as you can, and nag your friends, colleagues, acquaintances (!) to sign. Let's stop this waste of perfectly good items and create something amazing and sustainable for Canterbury and our planet.

2017-11-04 12:22:43 +0000

100 signatures reached

2017-11-03 13:08:33 +0000

50 signatures reached