Global warming is the biggest issue which confronts the world today and recycling on any form can only be encouraged. On Top Of That Municipal Park Managers, also face the double edge sword of how to manage green waste issues, and conform to stringent environmental regulations within tight financial constraints all at the same time, Calderdale council in West Yorkshire are proactively managing to find some solutions to this difficult and complex problem.
Calderdale Parks and street section have managed to go a stage further and attempt to collect and turn into useable compost 1000 tonnes of leaves collected on the roads around the borough of Calderdale.
The project has been simmering away for a few years with Mark Dempsey Parks and street Section Support services Manager who states” we initially had the idea after seeing a project in Epping, Essex where a Golf course was being top dressed with recycled compost, other influences over the years have been a visit to Sita’s processing area at Clifton Moor, Preston, an amenity sports trial set up by Bingley sports turf institute and seeing municipal compost production facilities in Voorschoten in the Netherlands”.
The Parks and street section have spent £130,000 on a capital investment to improve Calderdale park depots with schemes such as holding bays for materials used regularly in parks such as horse manure and green waste and address foul and contaminated run off leachates to sewerage and drains. Another significant breakthrough for the section was being allowed to use a facility at Milner road, Sowerby Bridge which was basically a concrete bund 20 metres by 30 metres and 3 meters high. Having this has meant that we can now start to process up to 1000 tonnes of leaf cleaning waste into compost, the process takes only 6 weeks to complete initially mixing leaf waste with woodchip at a rate of 4 to 1, stacking, turning and screening to remove large items of debris and litter contamination, temperatures of 55degree C have been recorded.
“We are already seeking to find alternative storage sites for the processed compost”, states Mark. Recycling Action in Yorkshire granted £20,000 towards the project. The compost material is going to be used in many different ways as end product with most being used as top dressing at two of Calderdale’s green flag parks at Manor Heath and Wellholme. Other uses include to establish wildflower planting schemes.
Calderdale Recycling
Giving young people their own space
Providing young people with a safe and regulated area to congregate can be an important tool in helping to reduce levels of anti-social behaviour and improving community safety.
Popular with local councils and in accordance with The Crime and Disorder Act 1998, Youth Shelters can provide teenagers with a designated area of their own to meet and socialise with friends, which can be easily policed, rather than meeting on street corners, outside takeaways or bus stops.
One recommendation is to design and install a Youth Shelter in consultation with young people, enabling them to feel involved in the project from the start and hopefully lead to long-term use of the facility.
Urban Engineering has worked closely with a number of local authorities in the past, resulting in a comprehensive range of Youth Shelters designed to suit a number of modern urban environments. Urban Engineering can also design bespoke Youth Shelters to meet the requirements of the site or local young people.
Urban Engineering
PET Bottles – The modern Park Keeper's bane
Everywhere that we look in these days in parks and open spaces there are litter bins nigh on overflowing – on a (more or less) daily basis – with discarded PET bottles. The great majority of those come from bottled water – which is a scam anyway – and also to a lesser extent and degree from soda pop, such as Coke, Pepsi, Dr Pepper, Lilt, etc.
Not only, though, do we see empty bottles in the litter bins; nay, even full, often unopened, bottles of water of different sizes are found on a rather regular basis.While rehydration during any activity, even including simply walking, especially in warn and hot weather (but also during cold and winter), is essential to good health there is no need whatsoever to go and buy bottled water.
Bottled water is NOT better for you than tap water (unless, maybe you happen to be abroad in foreign climes where the local tap water may be suspect) as, as research has shown now more than once by now that much, probably up to 75%, of all bottled water is in fact nothing but repackaged tap water and that therefore drinking bottled water is no more beneficial for you than drinking just plain old tap water. Is is also a fact that the hygiene standard of tap water, say Thames Water's water, is much higher than that of bottled spring water.
It would be more beneficial to both people's pocketbooks and the environment if they'd get refillable sports bottles of a good quality for a couple of bucks and just filled them up with tap water. Why would I pay say 60pence (about US$ 1) or thereabouts for a small 250ml bottle of water if I can fill a bottle up at home for nothing and simply take along with me. That way there is no bottle left behind either for once it is empty it does not weigh much.
But it would appear that people require education on this subject and therefore an educational campaign from the side of parks departments and possibly even organizations such as CABE might be called for.
© M V Smith, May 2007
QUICKFENCE SYSTEM SET TO TAKE THE UK BY STORM
An innovative fencing system manufactured in China is shortly to be available nationally in the UK after initial trials by distributor, B Rourke & Co. Ltd, the Burnley-based wrought ironwork specialists, has revealed a vast potential market.
Initially the ŒQuickFence system will offer specifiers two heights of post and rail system at 1200 mm and 1800 mm, in standard lengths of 2320 mm with flat, bow or spike tops and matching gates. With prices starting from just £31.00 per metre and a quality product manufactured from galvanised and powder coated steel, Rourke's trials have given the company confidence to begin mass imports of the fencing into the UK.
Barrie Ogden, Sales Director of Rourke's Urban Craft Division, commented, "We have been looking for a high quality economical system for some time and met the manufacturer of the system on one of our frequent supply chain trips to the Far East. We have been trialing it with various regional distributors for over a year before taking the plunge!"
"We now have a network of 30 regional distributors, all of whom also offer installation, across the country and are starting to place bulk orders to satisfy the demand that is beginning to develop."
"We were very impressed by the quality of the product and the ease of installation which will allow contractors to rapidly complete projects. The system incorporates an ingenious fixing system which allows angled joints and multiple steps of up to 100 mm per panel and also allows the actual width to be adjusted some 40 mm per panel."
"The potential market for such a cost-effective and easy to install system is huge and we're already supplying our regional distributors with repeat orders only a few weeks after receiving their initial stock. We already have plans for a flexible and Play Safe system to be launched in the middle of the year with several other developments at design stages."
For further details of the QuickFence system and your local distributor, please contact B Rourke & Co Ltd on (01282) 431405
B Rourke & Co. Ltd
Staying safe in the work place
Work and Safety Wear are part of the growing range of products from Course Care. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is part of a range carefully selected and designed to meet requirements of The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 in relation to greenkeepers and all those working in the turf maintenance industry.The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (PPEW Regulations) came into force on 1st January 1993 with the main requirement being that personal protective equipment is to be supplied and used at work wherever there are risks to health and safety that cannot be adequately controlled by other means.
To ensure adequate protection is afforded to employees and legislation is met, risk assessments should be carried out and equipment carefully chosen and supplied by the employer. Ask your PPE supplier for advice if you are unsure, as various options may be available depending on the nature of the risks involved. All equipment purchased, however, should be ‘CE’ marked and comply with the Personal Protective Equipment Regulations 2002.
Risk assessments should include the following six main hazard areas. Types of PPE are shown in each case;
Eyes
Hazards: chemical or metal splash, dust, projectiles, gas and vapour, radiation. Options: safety spectacles, goggles, faceshields, visors.
Head
Hazards: impact from falling or flying objects, risk of head bumping, hair entanglement.
Options: a range of helmets and bump caps.
Breathing
Hazards: dust, vapour, gas, oxygen-deficient atmospheres.
Options: disposable filtering facepiece or respirator, half or full face respirators, air-fed helmets, breathing apparatus.
Protecting the body
Hazards: temperature extremes, adverse weather, chemical or metal splash, spray from pressure leaks or spray guns, impact or penetration, contaminated dust, excessive wear or entanglement of own clothing.
Options: conventional or disposable overalls, boiler suits, waterproof jackets and trousers, specialist protective clothing, e.g. Hi-vis clothing, spraysuits, chainsaw wear.
Hands and arms
Hazards: abrasion , temperature extremes, cuts and punctures, impact, chemicals, electric shock, skin infection, disease or contamination. Options: gloves, gauntlets, mitts, wristcuffs, armlets.
Feet and legs
Hazards: wet, electrostatic build-up, slipping, cuts and punctures, falling objects, metal and chemical splash, abrasion.
Options: safety boots and shoes with protective toecaps and penetration resistant mid-sole, gaiters, leggings, spats.
N.B. Hearing protection and respiratory protective equipment provided for most work situations are not covered by PPEW Regulations because other regulations apply to them.
A full range of PPE to meet the needs of the hazards listed above is available from Course Care and staff will provide free advice.
CourseCare
Recycle, Recycle, Reuse it
As we are all aware, there has been a great deal of movement away from using land-fill sites for waste disposal. That coupled with the threat of climatic changes and diminishing sources of raw materials, means we have to recycle any material we are able too.The greatest component in the waste we all produce is plastic, which unlike traditional kitchen waste will not degrade. Playquest Adventure Play Ltd has striven to improve the structural properties of KLP© recycled plastic; this combined with its resistance to environmental forces has resulted in a material, which is an excellent replacement for timber in most circumstances including a range of play schemes.
Playquest Adventure Play
Why use recycled......?
Low maintenance, durability and cost-effectiveness are important considerations when identifying products for general landscaping projects. There are a number of recycled products which provide these benefits and more.Specifying these products will also help to achieve sustainability or recycled content targets on landscaping projects and may even help to win tenders.
Some examples of products and applications:
BSI PAS 100 compost derived from garden waste which can be used for soil improvement, turf establishment and repair, top dressing, planting, topsoil manufacturing, or as a mulch;
recycled plastic which can be used in a variety of general landscaping applications including walkways, outdoor furniture, gates and fencing, and paving;
recycled woodchip which can be used as a surfacing material or as natural and decorative mulch;
processed sand made using 100% recycled glass which can be used as top dressing and in root zone construction;
recycled rubber which can be used within surfacing applications, within planting schemes as a mulch or a turf additive, and also (as whole tyres) on larger scale landscaping projects.
WRAP
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