Friday 3 November 2023 saw the finale of the local ‘Upcycling Competition’, which invited residents from across South Leeds to transform unwanted household items into something new.
Organised by St Luke’s CARES and Our Future Beeston, as part of the larger ‘Save Money Save the Planet’ campaign, the competition saw dozens of entries – and eight talented winners walked away from the presentation event, held at the Bridge Cafe in Cross Flatts Park, with cash prizes!
Sally from St Luke’s CARES commented:
“We were pleased to see all the imaginative and creative entries that people had contributed, and particularly want to thank Gloria and the team at Bridge Cafe for hosting this event and the three judges: Clara, Lucy and Nicky.”
Cllr Ed Carlisle (Green, Hunslet & Riverside) – who proposed and supported the project – commented:
“We sadly live in a massively wasteful society – but creative schemes like this can help us to rethink, and have some fun as we do it. Congratulations and credit to all who participated. And I’d encourage people everywhere to plug into reuse projects in our communities, and to simply innovate to reduce waste in their lives. Doing so can help us all save money, and playing our part to help the planet.”
The competition was particularly designed to raise awareness about the importance of recycling, against the backdrop of next year’s proposed changes to bin collections. Residents across much of Beeston will now see green bin (recycling) collections increased, and black bin (general waste) collections reduced, in line with the majority of the city. St Luke’s CARES have been leading on a local campaign along these lines: drop into their shop on Dewsbury Road anytime to find out more, or to find out about helping with similar projects in future; or contact the team via www.stlukescares.org.
Local reuse projects include: School Uniform Swap LS11, LS10 School Uniform Exchange, Leeds Wood Recycling, Seagulls Reuse Paint, The Big Bike Fix Leeds, LS10 and LS11 CRAP (Conserving Resources Associating People)