The Great North Air Ambulance Service is making a huge change to its clothing recycling operation to help protect the planet.
As of May 1, the charity’s trading company which collects and recycles used clothes, books and office supplies, will no longer distribute bags and will only pick up arranged collections.
Last year the charity’s recycling team posted over 500,000 plastic bags through supporters’ doorsteps, so they could fill them with unwanted clothing and be collected a few days later.
It found that for every 1,000 bags it distributed, it received an average of 35 back and said the current method was no longer sustainable.
The money generated through clothing collections and the recycling of office supplies is reinvested back into the charity, and the most recent donation was £200,000, which helped to fund over 40 callouts.
Phil Hall, commercial projects manager, said: “Last year we were distributing approximately 2,000 bags per day around the North East, North Yorkshire and Cumbria areas. To distribute these bags, our recycling team drove at least 30,000 miles per year in a van, and then had to drive around the same streets to collect any bags left out.
“As a recycling service we’re very conscious of our environmental footprint, so to help support the planet as well as save the charity money, we have decided to cease the distribution of bags from the start of May.
“Instead, we will be focusing our efforts more on our already successful pre-arranged collections, where our supporters can book collections through our website, via social media or over the phone.”
The Trading Company offer their collection service Monday to Friday, which allows people to book in a collection at a pre-arranged date and time.
This service can be booked by filling out a short form on their website: https://www.greatnorthairambulance.co.uk/support-us/fundraising/recycle/clothing-collections/enquiry/
Mr Hall added: “By solely offering arranged collections we will be saving at least 938 gallons of diesel per year and reducing the amount of plastic being distributed to our supporters. This should also help to reduce the amount of bag thefts we’ve encountered in the past, as we will be picking up bags at prearranged times.
“I’d like to thank the thousands of people who have supported our charity over the years by donating their unwanted clothing. While we may no longer be posting bags through doors, we hope the public keep us in mind when they’re next having a clear-out.”
GNAAS does not receive government funding and needs to raise £7.7 million a year to remain operational.
