Guest Contributors: Julie Walker and Caroline Elmhirst, Nottingham in Bloom

In this edition of Waste and Recycling News we welcome guest contributors Julie and Caroline from Nottingham in Bloom, who kindly share their tips for recycling in the garden.

"It needn’t cost the earth to have a lovely garden.  We’ve seen lots of inspirational ideas from community groups who have come up with fantastic ways of recycling unloved items into unusual and effective planters and garden features.  

"Take a walk round the Creative Quarter of Hockley to see some brilliant ideas from the Articulture initiative, which is helping shopkeepers to brighten up the outside of their premises with planting.  You may spot chairs, suitcases, a drum and even a bed, all planted up and enjoying a new lease of life. 

"All round the city, gardeners have been inspired to put their cast-offs to good use.  A wheelbarrow that is past its best is a quirky place to grow herbs or annuals; a football can be converted into a novel hanging basket; even a wooden coat stand can take on a new look in the garden, with planted baskets hanging from every peg.  Old stainless steel teapots used as planters may be just your cup of tea – just use plenty of stones in the bottom to help with drainage. An old boot could be just the right size to be planted up and sit outside the back door.  

"Residents of a housing complex in Clifton have used a hotchpotch collection of cut-off drainage pipes of varying heights to create an eye-catching centrepiece for their courtyard.  The pipes are planted with a selection of colourful annuals and perennials to give year-round interest. 

"Even the most unlikely rubbish can have its uses.  We’ve seen milk cartons tied on to railings, blooming with summer bedding plants.  Plastic bottles can easily be converted into effective self-watering pots for growing on tomato plants or flowers, and if you collect about 1,500 plastic pop bottles you could even create a greenhouse!  There’s lots of advice available online. 

"A dead tree in Stockhill has been converted into an attractive bird table, and slices of a felled Leylandii trunk are effective stepping stones across a community garden in St Ann’s.  Pallets can be transformed into a compost heap, a bug hotel or a garden seat.  And there are some incredible themed scarecrows created from items that are past their best – from First World War soldiers to the Wizard of Oz. 

"As for plants – why buy when you can recycle and share?  Scatter seed from Poppies, Forget-me-nots, Marigolds and Aquilegia and you will have a beautiful garden for free.   Divide perennials and share them with your friends and neighbours – plant swaps can save you a fortune and create a garden full of memories of the people who gave you the plants. Happy gardening!"

Many thanks to Julie and Caroline from Nottingham in Bloom for sharing their tips!

Find Nottingham in Bloom on Facebook at www.facebook.com/nottinghaminbloom for more tips or sign up to the Stay Connected Bulletin.

Does anyone else have any top tips they want to share? Please get in touch and you could be our next guest contributor!

Our high profile frontline services have won the APSE Award for Best Service Team for Street Cleansing and Streetscene Services.

The award adds to the recent MJ Award win for Best Service Team and the CIWM Clean Britain Award, a fantastic achievement for Nottingham and our Streetscene services.

Our dedicated teams work hard to ensure we provide the best service to our citizen’s and respond to their needs to make sure we increase satisfaction and maintain our Grade A standard of cleaning.

Our thanks go to everyone who have helped us, from our fantastic front line staff, our partners and our citizens.

For more information please visit http://www.mynottinghamnews.com/apse-award-makes-it-a-hat-trick-for-nottinghams-streetscene-team/

Nottingham City Council has launched Robin Hood Energy, the first local authority-owned not-for-profit energy supply company since nationalisation of Great Britain’s electricity supply industry in 1948.

The ground-breaking move is driven by the council’s commitment to provide affordable energy to customers and to help tackle fuel poverty.

As a fully licensed national energy supplier, tariffs are available to customers in England, Wales and Scotland.

Nottingham City residents can take advantage of a unique ‘Nottingham tariff’ which is only available to customers in the City of Nottingham. It is one of Robin Hood Energy’s three core tariffs which are:

– Evergreen (standard variable)
– Prime (one year fixed-term)
– Nottingham (for Nottingham city residents only).

Customers can check which tariffs are appropriate to them by entering their postcode into the ‘quote portal’ on the website.

To get an instant quote, customers simply need to have a recent copy of their energy bill. Enquiries can be made by calling 0800 0304567 (calls are free from mobiles and landlines) or visit the website >> www.robinhoodenergy.co.uk

It is forecasted that customers who have already switched to Robin Hood Energy (during the controlled market entry phase) from their existing providers could save on average up to £237 per annum on their annual energy bills.

Are you on Twitter or Facebook? Join the conversation on our social media channels:

Facebook /cleangreennottingham  or

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Be the first to hear about service updates, bin changes and how we are working to keep Nottingham clean.

Use the hashtag #keepitclean to get involved!