Eco Comment – Recycle Week and a Moss Garden

This week is ‘Recycle Week 2024’ and it’s theme this year is ‘Rescue Me’ which fits in very well with the second theme of the week about a ‘Moss Garden’ which offers an opportunity for interested parties to ‘recycle’ a variety of plants and objects for use by our newly established gardening group at the cathedral.  

I’m not sure what the issues really are but possibly over shopping is part of the problem. Whilst being an avid bargain hunter myself (it helps me make a decision as to what I might eat) I only buy food that I know I will eat that day and/or freeze for consumption at a later date. One of the problems with putting food in the freezer though is that we pile things in and then forget what was already in there and unless we’re really methodical (and I do know some people who are) we’re often eating the more recent items of food rather than using those things that have only a limited freezer life.  

I regularly promise myself that I will have a sort out but it’s often one of those ‘roundtuit’ jobs I spoke about a few weeks ago. Maybe it will happen next month when I take part in the ‘FareShare Zero Waste Challenge’, but more of that in November. I know some families make menu choices for the week and buy accordingly. This encourages sustainable living, especially if they are used to cooking for a specific number of people so get into a routine. Waste is often not an issue here.  

So what about other things that can be recycled?  

Supermarkets come into their own here. The majority now have bins for batteries and even plastic bags and packaging that we must not put in our brown bins. I have a small bag that I put old, used batteries in and when it’s full I take it to my local supermarket for the batteries to be disposed of safely. I need to get into the habit of doing something similar for wrapping plastic. It’s quite ironic in a way that supermarkets now offer that sort of plastic recycling when they are often the place that most of it comes from.

I saw an advert on Facebook recently for small electrical items to be recycled in pink bins to be found in the library, amongst other places. A friend very kindly brought me some old phone chargers which I duly took along to Wakefield 1 and there, as promised, was a bright pink wheely bin along from the library counter almost full of small electrical items. Previously recycling such items was only possible by actually going to the recycling centre on Denby Dale Road where the majority of bigger items can be deposited. This is quite an impressive site as there are bays, all clearly labelled for almost anything that you might have surplus to requirements. The only thing is that you need a car and a permit. The latter is easily requested from the Wakefield 1 or by email/post.  

Clean fabrics and bedding can also be recycled at Dunelm on the cathedral retail park. Animal shelters will sometimes take clean duvets which are not normally allowed to be taken for human use but it’s always worth contacting them first. Clothes, similarly can be donated to charity shops as well as clothing bins to be found outside the fire station, outside some supermarkets or again at the recycling site on Denby Dale Road. The one thing we don’t want though is to add to the clothes mountains to be found in areas of the world where surplus fabrics and clothing are often sent after having been picked over for resale. Again, the message has got to be ‘don’t buy it unless you really need it’. 

Wakefield Council are really doing good things when it comes to recycling as a couple of us discovered when we visited Wrenthorpe the other day. Unbeknownst to us the people of Wrenthorpe have been very busy over the last few years and have created a lovely spot of land with flowers, trees, seats, a community orchard and a moss garden. The latter is still a work in progress but promises to be beautiful.  

We in the cathedral Eco Group are thinking that we might develop the area of cathedral land behind Treacy Hall into a moss garden as it doesn’t get much sunshine and isn’t regularly accessed by the public so could grow quietly with interruption. To this end, please keep your eyes and ears out for requests for a variety of things that you might like to see reused from your gardens. These will include mosses, stones/pebbles/slate pieces, plants, large pieces of dead wood and maybe a couple of wooden pallets to make a bug hotel.  

We are very grateful to the people of Wrenthorpe for showing us what can be achieved by hard work, persistence and being able to access extra funding and help from other places. For those who would like to visit this garden it’s at the junction of Wrenthorpe Lane and Silcoates Lane at the Wrenthorpe Road end, closest to the village. 

Happy Recycling. 

Susan Morgan
Eco Group