Soap stars back Christmas Card recycling

Soap stars Sammy Winward (Emmerdale) and Samia Smith (Coronation Street)

TV soap stars Samia Smith and Sammy Winward brought some seasonal cheer as they joined forces with Recycle Now, (the national recycling campaign for England), and donned glamorous outfits made entirely from Christmas cards to promote festive recycling.
 
A recent survey by Recycle Now found a shocking 41% of adults either don’t recycle, or let their good intentions lapse over the hectic festive season.  As a result, a significant amount of the estimated three million tonnes of waste created  at this time of year is simply thrown away.

Samia, who plays Maria Sutherland in ITV’s Coronation Street, and Sammy, who stars as temptress Katie Sugden in Emmerdale, are supporting Recycle Now and the Woodland Trust Christmas Card Recycling Scheme to encourage people to do their bit and remember to recycle their household rubbish after the festive period is over.

“More than a billion Christmas cards are sent each year and we need to recycle as many of these as possible,” said Corrie star, Samia Smith. “I was amazed to discover that one in five (22%) of us still throw our Christmas cards in the bin!”

Recycle Now is teaming up with the Woodland Trust for the second year running to encourage everyone to recycle their Christmas cards after the festivities die down. The cards can be recycled at Tesco (excluding Metro and Express) stores and high street branches of W H Smith from the 2 - 31 January 2006.  Over 58 million cards were recycled last year – that’s the equivalent of at least one card for every person in Britain.  Last year, a staggering one billion cards, that’s 17 for every man, woman and child, ended up in bins across the UK – that’s the equivalent in weight to 22,000 tonnes, or 55 jumbo jets!

Sammy Winward, adds: “In 2006 we hope to beat last year’s record and collect at least 60 million cards for the Woodland Trust. Recycling Christmas cards is getting easier every year and hopefully will soon become a seasonal tradition!”  

Tara Dumas, Waste Minimisation Manager at Rochdale Council said:

“The Christmas card recycling bins will be at the Tesco store in Rochdale and WHSmith’s in Rochdale and Middleton. Christmas is traditionally a time when we all create too much waste so recycling Christmas cards for the Woodland Trust is just one easy way to help reduce this and help a worthwhile cause at the same time.”

The campaign aims to encourage people to recycle Christmas cards and help save woods and trees. All the cards collected for the initiative are taken to paper mills where they are recycled into brand new paper products, conserving more trees for future generations to enjoy.

In addition to this Christmas card scheme, recycling in Rochdale has never been easier, with the council providing householders with a kerbside collection service which takes glass bottles, jars, paper, cans and garden waste and 17 Christmas Tree recycling points across the borough.

Festive Facts:

• Rochdale currently recycle nearly 15% of rubbish, some 5% short of the Government target of 20%
• Just over a third of us send Christmas cards to people we haven’t seen or spoken to in years
• Almost one in ten of us own up to not recycling anything
• In the run up to Christmas, Royal Mail delivers more than 160 million cards, letters and packets per day – approximately double the number delivered on an average day

For further information call the Rochdale Environmental Management Help Desk on 0845 226 1800 or log on to www.recyclenow.com for more information and use the postcode locator to find out about your local recycling services.