Village Sustainability Newsletter August 2026

SUSTAINABILITY – WORKING TOWARDS THE COFE’S CARBON NEUTRAL TARGET 2030

Waste reduction

First things first.  The summer heat has finally abated and we have actually had some rain!  I hadn’t cut our grass since the end of No-Mow May, when I mowed a border around the edge of the lawn and a couple of paths weaving attractively across the middle.  It then stopped raining, got hot and our grass basically stopped growing and went brown, like everyone else’s.  Fascinatingly, since it has started raining again, the lush new growth has been on the unmown areas, while the mown paths remain short and dead.  It will all have a tidy up before winter but has been a good experience, not least because of the number of buzzy crickets we have enjoyed!

September is a good time for a clear-out.  It’s certainly happening in our house.

As usual I intercept items that might otherwise go into landfill and find more sustainable ways of disposing of them, either by reusing or recycling (assuming we failed on the initial R of Refusing!)  I am a member of the Thatcham & Newbury Plastic Free, Recycling & Zero Waste UK Facebook group which used to have a huge spreadsheet file dedicated to this stuff, but that fell by the wayside due to a lack of someone to maintain it during Covid.  However, there is usually someone on the group who can help, and I will share here some ideas I have discovered for ways we can recycle items that the council would have us put into our black bins.  Don’t forget that there are also specialist recycling bins at supermarkets and the council’s waste facilities if you have the patience and lifestyle that allows you to book an appointment.

I won’t talk here about the sorts of things that can be taken to charity shops – just bear in mind that donations need to be in the sort of condition you would be prepared to buy yourself.  These shops are aiming to raise funds for their charity and are often staffed by volunteers.  Don’t use them as a waste disposal facility! 

Here are some recent facilities I have used or discovered:

  • Worn out shoes and trainers: you can drop these at Schuh stores and receive in return a £5 voucher (tried and tested!) towards a new pair of shoes.
  • Trainers – and many, many other items - can also be recycled at some Decathlon stores via their second-hand and buy-back programmes.  Do have a look to see if you can redirect your finished-with items there, or purchase used rather than new.  It all helps.
  • Duvets and bedding: take a look at the Dunelm Instore Textile takeback scheme.  Your donations need to be clean and bagged.  They also have schemes for furniture takeback and electricals takeback which you could explore.
  • Old towels and blankets: sometimes cat and dog rescue charities will take these but this varies from establishment to establishment according to their need at the time.
  • Bras: Newbury Library, Chapel Row Surgery, Salvation Army, Camp Hopson lingerie department, Marks and Spencer all have boxes where gently worn bras can be donated.
  • While we’re there, take a look at Marks and Spencer’s Another Life scheme at https://www.marksandspencer.com/content/another-life  - here they show how they support repairing and rehoming all sorts of items after their first life with you.
  • Aluminium cans (and metal bottle tops, and some other scrap metal items): there is a private home owner in Thatcham who collects these for Terracycle and raises funds for charity.  I won’t post the details here as it’s a private individual but look out for these schemes, perhaps through your work or the Terracycle website.  Aluminium cans can of course be recycled kerbside, but going through Terracycle means the profits are directed towards charitable causes. 

Julia Hoaen