|
#CleanUpMaidstone - 22 March 2022 |
|
‘Get Involved’ in #CleanUpMaidstone Project
We are on a mission to #CleanUpMaidstone and as part of the campaign we have launched a community project by inviting you to ‘Get Involved in the MBC #CleanUpMaidstone Project’: a campaign designed to provide community and volunteer groups, local businesses, residents, retailers, parishes or existing charities with the equipment, resources and support to help improve an area of land they would like to see cleaned up and restored for the community.
The ‘Get Involved Project’ has been introduced for an initial eight community projects to create volunteer groups that will help carry out the clearance work with the first being started in Tovil at Reed's Cut-through (which runs from Tovil Green to Tovil Hill by the side of the Lidl store), in order to restore it to the community.
The #CleanUpMaidstone and ‘Get Involved’ campaigns will see MBC teams supporting the projects by:
- Working with newly formed groups to plan and undertake the work
- Support purchasing of equipment, materials, tools and street furniture
- Provide required training and Health and Safety guidance
- Provide an ongoing maintenance programme with the aim to hand over the long-term upkeep of the area back to the local community.
Any volunteer group that would like to apply to the Council to have their community area cleared as part of the Get Involved campaign should:
|
|
Join the #BigBagChallenge
Back for its seventh year, the Keep Britain Tidy Great British Spring Clean takes place 25 March to 10 April.
This year the message is simple. Join the #BigBagChallenge and pledge to pick up as much litter as you can during the campaign.
You might choose to pick up just one bag, or you could set yourself a #BigBagChallenge.
There are loads of tips and advice to help get you started and cleaning up safely, so whether you’re a litter-picking pro, or this is your first time, join the Great British Spring Clean and pledge to pick up a bag – or more – today.
|
|
Become a volunteer litter picker and be a #LitterHero
MBC co-ordinates groups of litter pickers across the borough and is always looking for more!
Do you think you could be a #LitterHero? If so, please contact below.
You will be put in touch with your local team and provided with tools and bags.
Thank you for your support.
|
|
Waste Crime team join Police for joint op
The MBC Waste Crime Team joined forces with Kent Police’s Rural Task Force and Roads Policing Unit in joint operations to stop people illegally dumping their waste and help the MBC #CleanupMaidstone campaign.
During the two-day operation, they stopped 17 vehicles, issued one Fixed Penalty Notice, seized a vehicle and fined the owner for carrying waste without holding a Waste Carriers Licence.
Since holding these joint operations the Waste Crime team are now seeing a decline in the number of illegal waste carriers operating in Maidstone.
To report a fly tip or any waste dumped anywhere in the borough follow this link:
|
|
|
Maidstone Borough Council offers waste and recycling collection services for businesses of any size and from any industry. We collect from across the borough and offer a flexible and reliable service:
We recycle all the paper and cardboard locally, and incinerate the waste to generate electricity, and none of it goes to landfill.
Contact us for a quote using the link or call us on 01622 602666
|
|
Recycling Tips
Wash & squash to fit more in your recycling bin!
Air takes up a lot of space in your recycling items, such as empty boxes, plastic bottles, pots and cans. Flatten and squash your recycling to create more space in your recycling bin.
- Flatten cardboard boxes, such as cereal boxes
- Squash plastic bottles then screw the lid back on to keep them squashed
- Empty all bottles and containers before putting them in your recycling bin
- Carefully squash empty drinks cans to save even more space in your recycling bin
- Use card board boxes to keep any extra recycling secure
- Recycling logos can be misleading. Check if an item can be recycled by visiting https://maidstone.gov.uk/mybin or ask reycling@maidstone.gov.uk
- Shredded paper? No problem. Put it in to an envelope or cardboard box
- Scrunch up used clean kitchen foil into a ball for recycling
- Are you wasting money on wrapping paper? Buy a re-usable gift bag for your loved one
- Fed up of junk mail on your doormat? Sign up to the mail preference service -https://www.mpsonline.org.uk
|
|
|
Winner of Maidstone Borough in Bloom competition Best Back Garden 2021
Help Maidstone look blooming lovely
MBC is encouraging anyone who enjoys creating beautiful gardens or pots to get gardening now and enter the Maidstone Borough in Bloom competition, open between 21 April and 1 July. The judging will start on 4 July when all gardens, pots or allotments will be inspected, giving residents and businesses plenty of time to create their stunning displays.
The Council works with Coolings Garden Centre in Bearsted and Leeds Castle to run the competition and awards ceremony which will take place towards the end of July.
There are lots of categories and entries are welcomed from residents, businesses and community groups. Anyone entering will be given a £5 voucher to spend at Coolings.
A trophy will be awarded for the winner in each category. All winners will also receive a prize of £25.00 Coolings gift voucher as well as two adult annual tickets for Leeds Castle.
The Maidstone Borough in Bloom categories are:
- Best front garden
- Best back garden
- Best planted pot, trough or hanging basket
- Best allotment plot
- Best pollinator friendly garden
- Best display of Jubilee colours
- Best Commercial Garden or Horticultural Display
- Best Community Project
After 21 April you can enter the competition by completing a Coolings Garden Centre entry form, which will be available through the MBC website:
|
|
Make a bird feeder out of your used plastic bottles
Materials:
• One plastic drink bottle with cap (works best with a round bottle)
• Two willow sticks about 20cm long (a bit longer if using a one- or two-litre bottle)
• A drawing pin and nail scissors for punching and cutting the holes in the bottle
• String (40 to 45cm long).
Instructions:
1. Wash the bottle and if possible remove the label.
2. To make the perches, use a drawing pin to punch 2 holes opposite each other near the
bottom of the bottle and cut small holes with scissors.
3. Insert a stick so that it passes through one hole, through the bottle, and out the other side. Repeat this to make the other perch just above the first (see diagram).
4. Now you're ready to make the feeding holes. Use a drawing pin and scissors to make a
small hole about 4cm above each perch (about ¾cm wide). Keep in mind that the seeds
will just fall out if the holes are too big.
5. To make the hanger, poke a hole in one side of the bottle neck and then the other.
6. Thread the string through the holes in the bottle neck and tie them together at the ends.
7. To do at home: remove the cap and fill the feeder with sunflower seeds or mixed seeds.
(A small household funnel will make this easier to do.)
8. Screw the cap back on and hang the feeder from a tree branch or hook outside. Keep
clean and replenished!
|
|
|
If you have any tips about gardening or how to minimise waste which others could use please let us know by emailing us at recycling@maidstone.gov.uk
We shall try to recycle your tip in a future edition.
If you have enjoyed reading this why not forward this email onto your friends and family to 'Stay Connected' to news from Maidstone Borough Council by
|
|
|
|
