News 

Find out the latest news from the Eco-Home Student and the Eco-Home Community projects in Belfast. Also in this March’s bulletin some super, saving ideas.

Student households across Belfast have been shining up their green credentials and becoming more environmentally friendly by following simple steps laid out in Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful’s Eco-Home programme. The Student Eco-Home project has been funded by the NGO Challenge Fund administered by NIEL.

The programme sets out easy to follow steps for householders on how to become more eco-friendly in four topic areas: Energy, Water, Transport and Waste. The Belfast students have been focusing on Waste and Recycling. Waste is one of the main areas of expenditure in Northern Ireland with over 1 million tonnes of waste being generated each year; this equates to 1.75 tonnes per person!

Students taking part in the Eco-Home project have been going to workshops and getting information on being more environmentally efficient at home and on how to save money on household bills. They were also keen to give back to the communities they live in during term time by taking to the streets to pick up litter from the residential areas in and around Elms Village and Stranmillis. During the clean-up around Elms Village Queen’s students gathered 11 bin bags of litter, 5 of which were full of recyclable materials, and also 5 buckets of glass; around Stranmillis streets, students gathered 20 bags of litter and glass. The Queen’s students living in Elms Village also rolled up their sleeves to spruce up the Elms’ garden patch to get ready for spring planting.

Carmel Fyfe, Manager at Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful said: “It is great to see so many students in Belfast participating in the Eco-Home programme and doing their part for the local environment by tackling the issues of waste and litter in the student areas. Not only are they saving money by reducing waste but are also helping to keep the rates bill down for everyone by properly sorting and recycling plastic, paper and cans. The Eco-Home programme is available to all households and is good for the environment, the economy and the householder and we would love to hear from other households interested in getting involved also.”

Gwen Smyth from Queen’s Accommodation and Hospitality Services said: “It is great to see students really taking the initiative and getting involved within the Eco-Home Programme. We work hard each year with students to reduce our landfill waste and to recycle more; our clothes and books swaps are proving to be very popular, all of which is making a contribution to a better environment.”

Pupils at St Malachy’s Primary School, in the Markets area of Belfast, put their recycling know-how to the test in a Waste and Recycling workshop as part of the Eco-Home Initiative. Eco-Home provides householders with all the advice and tips needed to help make the home a more environmentally friendly place and to save money as a result. The programme is operated by the environmental charity Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, and is supported by Belfast City Council.

Children from P3 to P7 impressed the Eco-Home team with their savvy recycling ways and have enthusiastically taken up the challenge of getting everyone in the family more involved in household recycling too.

Carmel Fyfe, Eco-Schools Manager, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful said “Eco-Home participants carry out simple actions and make some small changes to their behaviour. These small changes all add up, giving people the chance to do their bit for the environment and save some money too!”

The council pays roughly £900 for each general waste lorry compared to under £100 for a lorry load of recyclable waste. By recycling as much as possible we can reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and will help keep the rates bills down.

Councillor Steven Corr, Chairman of Belfast City Council's Health and Environmental Services Committee, said: “We are very pleased to be supporting the Eco-Home programme. This free initiative will help save ratepayers money within their homes and reduce the amount of waste we are sending to landfill, saving the environment too. Belfast City Council is committed to increasing our recycling rate to 50% and the Eco-Home programme helps householders do their part. If everyone makes small changes we can achieve big things.”

Eco-Home, funded by Belfast City Council’s Zero Waste campaign, which is aimed at increasing the recycling rate within Belfast to at least 50% by 2020, is free to all householders.

Catch up with all the latest Eco-Home News in our Eco-Home February Bulletin update.

To reward families from Belfast for their eco-efforts in registering for our community project, each household registered with Eco-Home by 25th March 2014 will be entered into a prize draw. The winning household will be treated to a family-friendly day out to their choice of one of Belfast’s many attractions. Maybe you’ll be bowled over by Dundonald Icebowl, go ape at the Zoo or experience part of Belfast’s rich history by visiting the world-famous Titanic Belfast. And it doesn’t end there! With a voucher valid in 17 restaurants within Victoria Square you’ll be spoilt for choice! Whether you’re craving Mexican, Italian, New York style or Asian your family will not be disappointed. So register by 25th March to be in with your chance to win!

The Eco-Home Community Competition is sponsored by Belfast City Council.

Please Note: Winners must be at least 18 years old, live in the Belfast City Council area and be willing to take part in publicity/advertising if required by Eco-Home Northern Ireland. There is no cash alternative and the prize is non-transferable. The prize is based on a family of five members.

Belfast Students are tackling the issue of waste disposal and recycling through participation in Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful’s Eco-Home programme. The student project is working with three colleges across Belfast; Stranmillis University College, Queen’s University Belfast and Belfast MET. Students access information on how to save money and the environment through practical advice and develop lifelong eco-attitudes!

Stranmillis University College are working towards becoming Northern Ireland’s first Eco-Campus and welcomed the opportunity to invite Eco-Home to the campus during their ‘Green Week’ to chat to students about waste and recycling and introduce the Eco-Home programme.

Christopher Teggarty from Stranmillis’ Eco-Campus Committee said: “We are delighted to be to be associated with the Eco-Home Student project alongside Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful. The Stranmillis Eco-Committee has been spreading the green message by actively encouraging students and staff to be more aware of their waste management both at home and at work. The project is a great way to inform people about ways to save money as well as protect the environment through improving recycling habits. By working together with Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, our goal is to improve awareness of environmental issues and concerns."

Carmel Fyfe, Eco-Schools Manager, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful said: “It is wonderful to see student households across the city getting involved in the Eco-Home Programme and making simple changes like recycling and switching off appliances which all add up. Our young people are not only developing environmentally friendly habits that will last a lifetime but are saving money and helping to keep rate bills down by reducing waste to landfill.”

The Eco-Home website offers lots of useful information and ideas on how to be more environmentally active at home, is open to all householders and suggests not only great ways that to prevent waste but also how to reduce energy and water usage and consider greener transport methods. To take part, simply complete a short survey and get recommendations on practical actions you can make in your home. Once you’ve made the changes, you complete a second survey to find out the value of your improvements.

The Eco-Home Student project funded by the NGO challenge fund and administered by NIEL is running until the end of March. Every student who registers with the Eco-Home project by 25th March 2014 will be entered into a prize draw where they will have the chance to win an eco-prize to the value of £70. To find out more information on the prize and take part in Eco-Home join register now or call the Eco-Home team at Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful on 028 9073 6920.

The Students will also be taking part in Northern Ireland’s biggest volunteer clean up and collecting litter in the Stranmillis area as part of Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful’s BIG Spring Clean. To find out more information or register your own clean up event go to www.bigspringclean.org.

Each student registered with Eco-Home by 25th March 2014 will be entered into a prize draw. Eco-Home is giving away three bags of goodies (one each for Stranmillis College, Queen’s University and Belfast MET) to students who register* and take part in the Student Eco-Home project.

With gift vouchers for popular eateries winning students will be able to bolt down burritos from Boojum, sample sensational subs from Subway and guzzle gallons of coffee from Starbucks. Also included in each prize goodie bag is a 500GB hard drive for storing heaps of data to help students save on printing costs and help save the environment!

The Student Eco-Home project is funded by the NGO Challenge Fund (administered by NIEL) and is designed to increase awareness of the issues surrounding waste disposal and recycling. The project provides students with ideas on how to save money and the environment through practical advice, and hopefully develop lifelong eco-attitudes!

Registering with Eco-Home and completing a short survey will allow students to find out how eco-friendly their home is and will provide them with simple actions to improve their sustainable lifestyle.

* When registering on the Eco-Home website select your College in the ‘Group’ drop-down to ensure you are entered in the prize draw for your college.

Please Note: There is no cash alternative and the prize is non-transferable.

Hello from Eco-Home,

Welcome to our first Eco-Home Bulletin of the New Year! A big thank you to those of you who have already registered with the Eco-Home programme. By registering your household you are actively helping to preserve our environment, reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfill, and saving money. We hope that you have started to implement the Eco-Home action plans and the various tips that we suggest on our website and in the Householder Handbook. Hopefully you are noticing savings and waste reduction in your household.

Check out all the latest news in our June Eco-Home Bulletin. Eco-Home Bulletin June 2013.

Take a look at our Eco-Home Bulletin for May 2013.