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Visitors to St Andrews museum will have the opportunity to see how everyday rubbish can be transformed into useful new products at an exhibition being held over the next two weeks.
Sponsored by SEPA, Something Old, Something New will showcase work from Dundee University students and Creative Waste Workshops, from the Sustainable Communities Initiatives (SCI) Fife, will be held to show how easily items we think of us rubbish can be reused.
Commenting on the exhibition, John Harris, SEPA's Waste Strategy Co-ordinator in Fife said: " As a country Scotland currently landfills over 90% of household rubbish and until very recently Fife had one of the lowest recycling rates in Scotland, but current estimates suggest we now recycle over 15% of household waste, with more improvements predicted. This exhibition and the related workshops reinforce the message that we should all be viewing our waste as a valuable resource and not just as rubbish."
The Creative Waste Workshops will show people how they can more creative with their waste. Paula Cowie of SCI said: “Rags that are destined for the rubbish bin can become colourful, functional seat cushions and even tea bags and banana skins can be transformed into handmade paper. We hope that through the workshops people will start to look differently at what currently goes in their wheelie bins"
Also on display at the Museum will be a number of exhibits from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design.
Gavin Grant, Fife Council’s Museum Curator, said: “We are delighted to be hosting this project in St Andrews, I’m sure it will be of great interest to visitors of all ages.”
A number of initiatives are already underway in Fife to encourage householders to recycle more of their waste. The Fife Area Waste Plan was launched earlier this year, and is the blueprint for more sustainable waste management in the Kingdom. Fife Council and specific Waste Aware Fife campaigns are now implementing the plan. Fifty percent of Fife's households now have a waste paper kerbside recycling collection service and improvements are being made to recycling centres and recycling points throughout the area.
Lisa MacLeod from Waste Aware Fife said: "This exhibition gives people the chance to see how items that they would normally just throw away can be put to good use and turned into something with real value."
ENDS
Notes to Editors
- The exhibition will run from Saturday 18th to Thursday 30th October from 10.30am - 4pm at St Andrews Museum, Kinburn Park.
- For details of the Fife Area Waste Plan call the free Waste Action Line: 0800 389 5270 or visit www.sepa.org.uk
- For information on the Waste Aware Fife campaign visit www.wascot.org, or contact Lisa MacLeod on 01592 416860 or email waste.aware@fife.gov.uk
- Sustainable Communities Initiatives (SCI) is a charitable organisation based in Kinghorn, Fife. It encourages and supports sustainable living in a number of ways including the use of waste as a resource for community development. For further details visit www.sci-scotland.org.uk or contact Paula Cowie 01592 891884.
- This exhibition fits with the drive to raise awareness of the need to recycle and compost 25% of the waste collected by local authorities by 2006. Significant funds have been made available by the Scottish Executive to help local authorities encourage participation in local recycling schemes and help protect our environment by maintaining natural resources for future generations.
Contact
Lynn McMath, 0131 273 7274
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