Tag Archive for: Climate Change

Wimbledon Businesses Awarded Recycling Certificates

Wimbledon businesses have been awarded certificates for their amazing recycling efforts in 2019, by the award-winning, zero to landfill, recycling and waste company First Mile.

 

This is a result of a collaboration between First Mile and Love Wimbledon, which has allowed businesses in Wimbledon to make terrific savings on their waste collection and recycling schemes.

Elliott Wood Partnership and Marcus Beale Architects were awarded Gold certificates, whilst other businesses were awarded Silver, including: Carebase, Westmont Management Ltd, Capsticks Solicitors, Lush (Wimbledon), Phokas Barbers and more.

The criteria for certification was based on company’s Recycling Rates, the number of First Mile streams adopted, the kg’s recycled and the kg of CO2 offset.

 

 

Through First Mile, we offer businesses benefits such as FREE annual allocation of mixed or cardboard recycling, reduced rates for all subsequent recycling and waste collections, food recycling – provision of a FREE starter pack to include caddies and a set of bags, daily waste and recycling collections, FREE quarterly Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment (WEEE) recycling and more.

Did your business receive a Silver certificate, and would you like to Go For Gold? By simply introducing one more recycling service, such as food waste, you can increase your overall recycling rate, reduce the number of general waste sacks you order, save money and help the planet. Click here for more information on understanding Your First Mile certificate.

Display your certificate proudly on the wall of your business for all to see and tag @lovewimbledon on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, so we can help you sing about your green efforts!

If you’d like to find out more about how Love Wimbledon can support your business to be more green and improve your climate change efforts, contact info@lovewimbledon.org.

‘It’s Oh So Quiet’ Street Art

In collaboration with artist Louis Masai and local photographer and culture campaigner Cindy Sasha, Love Wimbledon enhances the allure of Wimbledon Town Centre with a recently-installed street art feature. Named ‘It’s Oh So Quiet’, this stand-out art is inspired by the need to raise awareness of the decline of British birds in London, particularly the House Sparrow, which is renowned for its birdsong and seen as a vital part of urban life.

Brought to life by street artist Louis Masai, who is often best-known for his dynamic and inspiring wall murals of endangered animals, this new art features a male  and female house sparrow inferring the question of ‘where has the sparrow song gone’. As well as adding to the visual appeal of Wimbledon Town Centre, this art carries a strong environmental message, reflecting how birdsong has reduced over time, due to the population decline of this bird species.

According to The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), there has been a severe decline in the UK House Sparrow population, estimated as dropping by 71 per cent since 1977, which has led to the classification of these birds as a species of high conservation concern. Based on the hit single ‘It’s Oh So Quiet’ by Icelandic musician Björk, the title for this art directly links to the disappearance of this species and their birdsong which could have a profound impact on human health. These natural sounds have been linked to improved mental and emotional health amongst humans, acting as the perfect antidote to the pressures of modern life.

This installation also ties in closely with Love Wimbledon’s commitments to changing the landscape of Wimbledon so that it is a popular, attractive and interesting place for all. As said by collaborator Cindy Sasha, “street art can change a landscape of a town centre. I love it when the love spreads through art and sends such a positive message – we need more of it!”.

The presence of this street art helps to add to the appeal of The Broadway and energises the Wimbledon Town Centre. Enhancing the vibrancy of the town, directly benefits the businesses situated within the area, through means such as increasing footfall numbers. This is even more important given the current situation facing high streets across the UK, with more and more consumers leaning towards online shopping from large e-commerce retailers. Bringing a free piece of art to the streets of Wimbledon strengthens the arts and culture scene in the area, as well as acting as a driving force to encourage consumers to leave their homes and visit the town centre.

Love Wimbledon create and fund a variety of cultural and environmental notions in Wimbledon Town Centre, including previously installing the first rainbow pedestrian crossing in the UK, in partnership with Merton Council, to show support to the LGBTQ community in the area. This addition of this new wall art helps to enhance the Wimbledon experience and adds to the notion that there is more to Wimbledon than what meets the eye.

 

“This collaboration has brought an important message to Wimbledon, whilst also developing a stronger and more vivid cultural strategy for visitors to experience the town centre. The art is impactful, meaningful and has had a positive response from business, visitors and local residents.”

Sally Warren, Love Wimbledon

 

Find this new street art piece on Alwyne Road, off Wimbledon Hill Road, in Wimbledon Town Centre, and help to support this message.

 

Sustainable Merton’s Community Fridge

Sustainable Merton, Merton’s leading environmental charity, is bringing the first Community Fridge to the borough.

This meaningful project offers an exciting opportunity to stop edible surplus food from going to waste, and instead make this available to those who are struggling to afford to eat. The Community Fridge is essentially just a big fridge, located in an accessible, friendly space, where individuals and businesses can donate fresh edible food and members of the community can take what they want or need.

Sustainable Merton’s Community Fridge project has been selected to participate in the Big Give Christmas Challenge 2019, the U.K.’s largest match funding campaign running from 3rd – 10th December 2019.

This means that the first £2000 in donations made via theBigGive.org.uk to the Community Fridge project during this week, will be matched and thus have twice the impact.

The aim is to raise a minimum of £10,000, which will contribute to the set up, running, maintenance and management of Merton’s first Community Fridge.

The need for food assistance in Merton is rising. Between 2015 – 2017, the number of residents accessing local food banks increased by 33%. At the same time, huge amounts of good food is going to waste, filling up overflowing landfill sites and producing greenhouse gases. Many local businesses and residents would be willing to donate fresh food if they had the opportunity, and a Community Fridge in Merton will provide this essential link that does not exist in the borough at present.

Sustainable Merton’s Community Fridge will be a valuable contribution to the community, contributing to reductions in both greenhouse gas emissions and food poverty. With the support from individuals and businesses, we can make a real difference to the lives of local people and protect our environment by keeping good food out of the bin and into the hands of those who need it most.

To find out more about the Community Fridge initiative, visit the following link.

Love Wimbledon Plant Over 250 New Trees

Probably the longest native woodland hedge in Wimbledon!

 

Love Wimbledon always strives to reduce it’s impact on the environment. Thus ahead of National Tree Week and in conjunction with the Woodland Trust’s The Big Climate Fightback, Love Wimbledon has pledged to help fight the climate emergency, by planting over 250 new saplings in Hartfield Road.

As well as being one of the best ways to fight a changing climate, planting trees can help to improve air quality and protect biodiversity in urban areas. Younger trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, at a rate of nearly 6kgs per tree.

This means that the new hedge planted by Love Wimbledon will absorb approximately 1,500kgs of CO2 and have a significant impact upon air pollution in Wimbledon. This is especially significant given that the majority of buses in Wimbledon Town Centre, pass through Hartfield Road, in addition to cars, lorries, taxi’s and vans.

Love Wimbledon’s double-row hedge features a variety of species including Rowan, Hazel, Cherry, Elder and Crab Apple trees.

 

These saplings have been carefully selected to offer beautiful blossoms, bright berries and stunning autumn displays, whilst also acting as a connection for existing woodland so that wildlife stay on the move.

 

Trees are essential for people, wildlife and the environment. They absorb carbon, fight flooding, reduce pollution, nurture wildlife and make landscapes more resilient. But given the alarming rate of global warming on our planet, reducing our carbon emissions will never be enough.

 

‘It is vital that we grow a UK-wide patchwork of trees and woods – not just by planting, but also through natural regeneration. The woods, hedges and green spaces we create buffer existing habitats, tackle climate change and reverse wildlife decline – all at the same time’.

– The Woodland Trust

 

This comes as part of the ‘Free Trees for Schools and Communities’ programme run by the Woodland Trust, and funded by Sainsburys, People’s Postcode Lottery, Yorkshire Tea, Joules and Selfridges.

For more information on what Love Wimbledon are doing to improve air quality in Wimbledon Town Centre, including the Adopt A Tree campaign, visit our air quality page.