Colin Neighbourhood Partnership was delighted to be joined today by Lord Mayor Christina Black to launch their first Community Environment and Recycling Awareness Day in Colin Town Square.
The free event in partnership with Tools for Solidarity was created with Colin Men’s Shed following a three-week sustainability education programme with Tool for Solidarity earlier this year, which highlighted local solutions to global issues such as food waste, fast fashion, and the climate crisis.
It was attended by a wide range of community, voluntary, statutory, and environmental organisations and groups who provided ideas, activities, demonstrations, and information on themes such as recycling, upcycling, growing your own food, nature conservation, and how to take care of the environment.
There was also the opportunity to have damaged clothes repaired by volunteers from the Repair Cafe and broken sewing machines fixed by Tools for Solidarity. People also exchanged pre-loved clothes at Footprints’ Wear and Share, picked up some wildflower seeds, signed up for a new Colin Pollinator Campaign with Colin Wildlife Group, took part in bike maintenance workshops with Sustrans, learned some tasty recipes for using up leftovers, got creative with nature and textile art activities, and viewed demonstrations on how to restore furniture and make planters out of waste wood.
Speaking at the event Lord Mayor of Belfast Councillor Christina Black commented “It is fantastic to see such a wide range of community, voluntary, statutory and environmental organisations and groups getting involved with this community environment and recycling day to share their ideas and provide activities, demonstrations, and information on recycling, upcycling, growing your own food, nature conservation, and how to take better care of the environment.
“It’s so important that each of us takes the time to educate ourselves on issues such as food waste, fast fashion, and the climate crisis. They may be big, global issues, but we can all take local action in our own communities to reduce waste and emissions and help protect our environment.”
Annie Armstrong, Manager, Colin Neighbourhood Partnership added “It was great to see such numbers here today. The aim was to raise awareness in the local community on actions we can take to reduce waste and tackle the climate crisis, in our everyday lives”.
“With the cost of living rising and putting many people under financial pressure, we are keen to highlight ways in which some of these waste-reducing actions can help save money. We hope this event gave people a bit of hope that there are practical actions we can take locally to help make a difference in tackling these huge environmental issues.”
“We would like to thank everyone who made the day such a huge success, especially Lord Mayor of Belfast Councillor Christina Black who joined us to launch the event”.
