Arran Eco Savvy is celebrating 10 years of running a community shop in Whiting Bay.
The success of the small but popular, reuse, recycle and upcycle hub has been attributed to the hard work of the venture’s volunteers over the last decade.
The shop opened in the early days of the charity with Barbara I`anson and Esther Brown recognising that something needed to be done to improve our environment.
Since it was established, it has saved more than 100 tonnes of rubbish going into landfill. What one person considers to be worthless or unimportant can be highly valued by someone else and this concept is what has helped to sustain the thriving charity shop which has 17 volunteers and a part-time shop manager.
Volunteers also work behind the scenes by sorting donations, fixing and PAT testing electrical items, helping transport waste to the recycle centre - not everything is salvageable - running creative workshops using materials donated to the team, washing and ironing.
The Eco Savvy shop was completely self-funded between 2014-2016 before additional backing allowed it and the organisation to offer a greater variety of green initiatives. These have included the Big Green Footprint, Duke of Edinburgh Zero Waste competition, Woolen Woods, Love Food Hate Waste with the Co-op, auction and fashion shows, jumble sales, skills-share, a permaculture course, a compost visit, pop up shops and reuse micro-hubs around the island.
Current and on-going projects include a zero waste café initiative, which provides bulk goods in zero-waste dispensers and offers locally grown, fresh produce and a hot meal and refreshments for visitors. The food share scheme, run in partnership with Co-op stores, helps to distribute food nearing its best before date, which is also served up at the cafe.
Eco Savvy’s Travel Hub has also proved popular with regular e-bike rides, group sessions and maintenance workshops
Health walks are another Eco Savvy initiative which have taken off, with a number held around the island each week.
Upcoming events include a celebration on Earth Day on Monday April 22 where Eco Savvy will set up the café in the Whiting Bay Village Hall with pre-loved goods on offer alongside a 10 per cent discount. The Travel Hub will also be there with e-bikes to test and there will be a bake-off competition with a theme of 10 years of Eco Savvy or Earth Day. The winner will receive a selection of eco-products.
Eco Savvy is always on the lookout for fresh talent and volunteers.
If you would like to get involved with the shop, the travel hub, the zero-waste cafés, the green islands project, the reuse/recycle creative workshops or anything else, you are encouraged to get in touch via its website at www.arranecosavvy.org.uk where further details of all their initiatives can be found.
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