What is it?
Eco Burslem is an initiative developed by Burslem Regeneration Trust and partner organisations. We aim to bring about positive change to the Burslem area, create interest and good press, and overall make it a great place to live, work, visit and invest in.
Climate change, plastic pollution, polluted waterways, deforestation… we all know about it, but how can we help? Whilst the government and larger businesses do need to act fast to help solve these issues, the influence of small businesses in the UK is substantial. In fact, SMEs (small to medium-sized enterprises) account for 99.9% of all private sector businesses and 51% of all private sector turnover.
We believe that in encouraging Burslem businesses to address the issue of environmental sustainability, we can become business and community leaders and attract positive attention to the town. Not only that, implementing sustainable practices within your business could actually help it to grow and reduce your operating costs.
Support from other organisations and individuals are also imperative to achieving our goals. Increased social action and volunteering, as well as changing our consumption practices, will ensure a successful Eco Burslem initiative.
How can you get involved?
Some community project ideas are below but we would appreciate new ideas or updates about existing eco projects too. There are also many funded support programmes available to Staffordshire businesses, and a few specific to sustainability and low carbon. To get involved in any of these, please contact the projects and programmes directly (if details are provided) or send us a message through our contact us page. You can also sign up to our newsletter where we will provide updates on Eco Burslem and the wider town regeneration.
Projects
Community Sustainability Champions - We’re looking for businesses or organisations to take the lead and act as drop-off points for hard-to-recycle waste streams such as snack packaging, pens, personal & oral care packaging and cigarette waste. These can then be sent to Terracycle, for free, to be recycled instead of ending up in our environment or landfill https://www.terracycle.co.uk/en-GB/brigades.
Eco Bricks - Could we help minimise plastic waste from single-use bottles? We’re looking for innovative ideas or groups that could utilise Eco Bricks for their own projects https://www.ecobricks.org/.
Single-use Plastic Free Retail - We want to drastically reduce the amount of single-use plastic in our community and need your help to do so. If you’re a business wanting to cut out plastic then there are funded support programmes that can help, or if you are already doing so let us know so we can shout about it! Individuals; start to rethink the way we use plastics and demand change, encouraging local businesses to adopt more sustainable practices.
Sustainable Food - Root ‘n’ Fruit is a community food initiative that links together schools, businesses and people from the community, to help them to learn about, grow, and eat, fruit and vegetables. The hub is a 600sqm allotment at Trubshawe Cross Allotments in Middleport, Stoke-on-Trent, where they grow fruit and veg, and run allotment gardening sessions for schools and community groups.
All the fruit and veg that is grown is donated, free-of-charge, to people in the local community who are experiencing food crisis – a sort of fresh-food bank, if you will.
The group is completely run by volunteers so if you are interested in getting involved please pop down for a chat on Thursday or Saturday between 10am-12pm or visit our website www.rootnfruit.co.uk.
Circular Economy - Does your business produce a lot of waste that costs to dispose of? We’re looking for an organisation to take charge and create a forum for local businesses to post their available, good quality waste (such as wood, metals, plastics). Arts groups, upcyclers, community organisations or other businesses can then have the opportunity to utilise these materials for free, benefiting both parties.
How can you make your business more sustainable?
- Reduce your energy use
- Switch to a 100% renewable energy supplier (often cheaper than other suppliers)
- Reduce, reuse, recycle your waste
- Develop low carbon processes, services & products
- Encourage staff to drive less, use public transport or walk
- Implement environmental policies and procedures e.g. EMS ISO14001
- Advertise that you are an environmentally responsible business
- Encourage staff, customers, suppliers and partner organisations to do the same
Funded Business Support programmes
More info <here>