Staffordshire Green Awards 2006 Results
The Britannia Building Society a special TravelWise Award for their commitment to reduce the impact of car travel.
Working in partnership with the County Council Sustainable Travel Unit they launched a car sharing scheme from their Leek office. After less than a year of operation the scheme has 387 members and 110 active car sharing teams. All members are entitled to a reserved parking space and free emergency ride home.
The society are also committed to informing and educating employees on the benefits of car sharing, walking and cycling. Staff feedback has been very positive with fifty two percent of the workforce using alternatives to single person car journeys.
Sustainable Business
Rodbaston College receive the Bronze Gilt Award. The 'Sustainable Agenda in Further Education' project is sponsored by Staffordshire Learning and Skills Council. It aims to embed sustainable development in the curriculum and operation of the countys 9 further education colleges.
The lead college at Rodbaston has adopted an integrated waste management system to showcase best practice. In the first three months of operation the waste sent to landfill sites has been reduced by 66%. This is an annual saving of £10,000.
This best practice has been shared with other colleges. Most have appointed a sustainability champion and established a database of utility use to ensure future monitoring.
The Beth Johnson Housing Association received the Silver Gilt Award for the 'Three Counties House Recycling Project'
Working in partnership with Severnside Recycling, staff and tenants they have implemented several recycling initiatives. They now recycle paper, printer cartridges and have reduced waste disposal costs by £6.50 for each bin collected.
This is a flagship project which they aim to roll out to other association offices. This project has encouraged greater environmental awareness and sustainability debate amongst staff.
Talbott's Heating Ltd win the Gold Gilt Award for the development of the BG 100 Biomass Generator.
This small scale biomass fuelled heat and power unit can use forestry and agricultural residues, wood chips and miscanthus. It can produce 100 kilo watt of renewable electricity and 140 kilo watt hours of renewable heat. The unit has an energy efficient conversation rate of 80% It is semi portable so it can be located close to the fuel source on large farms and estates.
Community Category
The Kingfisher Project receives a Special Commendation. The 'Kingfisher Project' started twelve months ago and has made significant progress towards improving the environmental quality of the Horninglow Brook. This area is a valuable asset and is important for nature conservation, biodiversity, leisure, and flood control.
Working in partnership with Burton Conservation Volunteers, parish councils, residents associations, community police officers and local schools, a management plan has been developed. The local community has planted over 90 trees. They have also organised a sponsored walk, fun day and litter pick.
Beth Johnson Housing Association receive a Special Commendation for the Great Sunflower Challenge. This project has engaged hard to reach and deprived communities in North Staffordshire.
Association staff have germinated sunflowers and donated plants to improve the environmental quality of eleven housing estates. As a direct result of this project residents now grow their own vegetables, thus reducing food miles and incorporating sustainability into their lifestyles.
The Friends of Astonfields Balancing Lakes receive the Silver Gilt Award.
The balancing lakes are situated on the north eastern edge of Stafford. The site is important for flood defence. It consists of reed bed and an open water salt marsh which is of particular botanical interest. The site has been dedicated as a Local Nature Reserve by Stafford Borough Council Local Agenda 21. This conservation status requires a habitat protection plan. This includes making and locating nest boxes, increasing the diversity of wild flowers and removing non - native species.
Group members also participate in reed bed management, path clearance, Bat Walks and Dawn Chorus Walks. The group promote their work at Farmers' Markets and have received publicity in a national bird watching magazine.
Burton Conservation Volunteers receive the Gold Gilt Award.
They have been active for over fourteen years and are involved in a range of practical conservation activities. Sustainability is a core value in all their work. All tasks are designed to make the best use of materials and local resources. For example at a hedge-laying project, all the stakes were sourced from the adjacent wood.
Another project involves working with an allotment group to set up a hand/wind pump and an artesian well. This will create a sustainable water supply. The group have accumulated a total of 416 practical volunteer days on 48 separate occasions.
Youth and Education
Violet Lane Infants School, Burton receive a special commendation for continuing to ensure the ethos of reduce, reuse and recycle remains as a core school value.
The School Council and Eco Committee work in partnership to collect cans, paper, mobile phones and textiles for recycling. All the children are responsible for litter picking and general care of the school environment. They are aiming for permanent eco flag status. We wish them well in their latest green endeavour.
St Werburgh's Primary School in Stoke received a special commendation for their green action plan. The plans objectives are too encourage environmentally sensitive behaviour and develop an environmental area.
Working in partnership with Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, education authority and Diocesan architect, the school nature club have planned and planted an environment area. The pupils have installed a new pond, learn about aquatic environments and planted spring bulbs. JCB have loaned an excavator and donated metal mesh.
St Wulstans Catholic Primary School, Newcastle receive a special commendation for launching several new eco initiatives. New measures include the introduction of water butts for rainwater harvesting, a bench made from recycled plastic and recycling printer cartridges. The pupils write articles for an eco- newsletter to encourage practical action.
The Gardening Club are planting native wild flowers and participated in Newcastle in Bloom. They are also investigating ways to generate their own energy.
Bursley County Primary School, Newcastle receive a Special Commendation for the work of the Gardening and Environmental Group. This club aims to promote good practice with flora and fauna to improve the school environment. The club has over fifty children.
They have worked hard to improve the schools 'wild area' to include two new ponds and a marsh. They have installed a new seating area, picnic area and bird boxes. The children have been busy planting flower beds with the local community, thus fostering good will and community spirit.
The Beth Johnson Housing Association win a Special Commendation for the Glitterbin Project. A 'Glitterbin' is hard wearing steel bin designed to brighten up communities.
This project aims to raise awareness of the damage litter can do to the local environment and has been organised in partnership with the Community Education Officer at Stoke on Trent City Council.
They have worked with St Lukes Cof E School, Hanley and Etruscan Primary School, Eturia to produce artwork on the theme of litter and its negative impact on communities. This has improved the environmental quality of some of the most deprived wards in Stoke on Trent and received widespread publicity.
Dosthill School, Tamworth receive the Bronze Gilt Award for their efforts to achieve permanent eco schools accreditation.
Their green initiatives include paper recycling, composting fruit and reusing plastic bottles. They also take part in Walk to School Weeks, litter management and energy monitoring. The children, staff and pupils have created a conservation garden with a pond. This provides a habitat for frogs, newts and lilies.
They have secured sponsorship from Nat west Building Society for an outdoor class room and received a presentation from a national company who promote recycling.
St Micheals First School, Stone win the Silver Gilt Award for continuing to sustain good environmental practice.
Their biggest new project is the Sensory Garden so children can smell, touch, taste and see the plants. Over the last year they have expanded the vegetable patch and make their own compost. They also recycle plastic bottles, installed a poly tunnel, planted a fruit orchard and created a wildflower meadow.
Keele University win the Gold Gilt Award for promoting a greater awareness of renewable and clean energy.
This was achieved by a series of lively workshops and interactive demonstrations on wind power, solar energy, biofuels and fuel cell cars. They also explained how to generate energy from landfill sites, animal and vegetable waste.
A total of 80 workshops have been run and, attended by over 300children and 200 teachers. The total audience for talks, lectures and demonstrations on environmental issues and alternatives fuels has been over five thousand people.
Sustainable Tourism
Shugborough Estate receive the Gold Gilt Award for Sustainable Tourism. Over the last two years the estate has worked hard to incorporate sustainability within an historic visitor attraction. As part of the Green Plan and Walled Garden Project they have used natural building techniques and materials, low energy light bulbs, and alternative fuel sources.
They also produce and us their own compost. Centralised car parking and staff travelling around the site on foot or by bike has reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 30%. Future plans include the provision of native fruit trees and a natural wetland.
Envirowise Business Resource Efficiency Award
WBB Minerals receive a special commendation in this category. At their Moneystone Quarry site they have implemented a programme to increase energy efficiency and fulfil their obligations under the climate change levy.
Efficient use of the compressed air unit, removal of space heaters and use of low energy lighting has saved 400,000 kilo watt hours of electricity. This equates to 100,090 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Further projects have saved enough energy to power for 1860 households.
The Potteries Shopping Centre receive a Special Commendation in the Resource Efficiency Award for their commitment to reduce waste and improve energy efficiency.
As part of their Waste Management Strategy they have a commitment to recycle fourty percent of the waste generated by the centre. A waste segregation unit has been installed where recyclable material is sorted, compacted and recycled.
The Energy Efficiency Programme included installing 150 floresent light fittings, saves 3500 kilo watt hours a year. This has a payback time of just over two years. The boiler has been replaced with new infra red unit saving around 140,400 kilo watt hours in the winter quarter.
Indesit Company receive a Special Commendation in this category for reducing water use and implementing savings at their Blythe Bridge site. This site carries out metal finishing operations that require extensive use of water.
A workshop of management and operators identified several areas for improvement. These recommendations included flow reductions on cleaning and rinsing plants, installing water meters, weekly water monitoring and water use targets. These changes have reduced annual water use by 15%. This gives a financial saving of £35,000 each year.
The top prize in the Business Resource Efficiency Award goes to Ideal Standard for their glaze reclaimation project. They purchased a filtration system from Staffordshire based Xtract Process Systems. The machine extracts water from the glaze slurry and produce a high quality reclaimed glaze.
As a direct result of this investment the plant is reclaiming 45% of glaze consumed, and 35 cubic meters of water each day. Each month the demand for virgin materials has been reduced by 100 tonnes. Waste land filled has been reduced by 75 tonnes each month. The total financial saving £232, 500. The payback period has been one year.
In addition, the staff have benefited from a cleaner working environment, fewer lost workdays and reduced accident claims.
Last Modified:
05/01/2007 11:36:11
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