Mancs are being urged to help stop more than 16,000 tonnes of textiles from going to waste each year by donating their unwanted clothes.
After shocking new figures revealed that a whopping 16,700 tonnes of textiles was sadly put into Greater Manchester’s general waste bins within the last year, Greater Manchester Combined Authority(GMCA) has teamed up with Recycle for Greater Manchester (R4GM) to launch a bold new campaign called ‘Cotton On’ and work towards tackling the problem head on.
For the new campaign – which is aptly called ‘Cotton On’ – local residents are simply being encouraged to recycle their old, damaged, or unwanted clothes instead of throwing them away.
With the concept of ‘fast fashion’ still, unfortunately, going as strong as ever, it’s believed that each person in the UK chucks 35 items of clothing into the general waste every year on average – with old socks, ripped jeans, and stained t-shirts being some of the main culprits socks.
Your old clothes can have a new life. 👖👚
Even if they’re ripped or stained, they can be recycled at your local textiles bank. ♻️
While many people will consider parting ways with their unwanted clothes by donating them to charity or selling them online, GMCA and R4GM is keen for its new campaign to highlight the fact that damaged clothes and textiles can also be recycled, instead of thrown away.
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Greater Manchester already has a large existing network of textile banks, including at all of the region’s 20 recycling centres.
You can also find loads of others in supermarket carparks and large clothing stores too.
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All the textiles donated by residents are sorted here in Greater Manchester, and when the clothing is in a state of disrepair so much that it can’t be re-worn, this doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road, as the material is then recycled into something new like animal bedding, carpet underlay, and even things like car seats.
Mancs are being urged to donate their unwanted clothes to help stop 16,000 tonnes being thrown away / Credit: Crew | Maude Frederique Lavoie (via Unsplash)
Cllr Tom Ross, who is GMCA’s lead for Waste and Recycling, says that the thousands of tonnes of clothes thrown away each year is “damaging” to the region’s ambitions to be carbon neutral by 2038.
“Under Government plans, these extra carbon emissions will lead to increased costs for the GMCA and individual local authorities, so it’s great to see this campaign underway to raise awareness of what Greater Manchester residents can do with the unwanted or damaged clothes in their home.
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“It’s a fantastic example of what R4GM does to make recycling simple.”
Reality TV personality Kim Woodburn has died at the age of 83
Emily Sergeant
Kim Woodburn has died at the age of 83, it has been confirmed.
The reality TV personality and presenter, also affectionately known by the nickname ‘The Queen of Clean’, and most-commonly known as one half of the presenting duo for Channel 4’s How Clean Is Your House? as well as being a regular panellist on ITV’s Loose Women, has passed away following a short illness.
Her passing was announced by her representatives this morning, and she was described as being ‘incredibly kind, caring, and charismatic’.
Announcing the TV star’s death in a statement today, Kim’s representatives wrote in tribute: “It is with immense sadness that we let you know our beloved Kim Woodburn passed away yesterday following a short illness.
“Kim was an incredibly kind, caring, charismatic and strong person.
“Her husband Peter is heartbroken at the loss of his soulmate. We are so proud of the amazing things Kim achieved in her life and career.”
The statement concluded by asking that Kim’s husband and close friends be ‘given the time and privacy they need to grieve’.
It was also confirmed that no further details will be released to the public following this initial statement.
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Met Office says UK heatwave is ‘likely’ this week with highs of 30°C expected
Emily Sergeant
Much of the UK will be in heatwave conditions by the coming weekend, according to the latest Met Office forecast.
It’s been a real mixed bag of weather since June arrived, it’s safe to say, with the continuous and unseasonably warm and dry temperatures of April and May finally being broken with spells of heavy downpours and thunderstorms, but now it’s official… a heatwave is ‘likely’ on its way.
The Met Office is predicting heat will build throughout this week, and by the time the weekend has arrived, some parts of the UK will probably be in heatwave conditions.
According to forecasts, the highest temperatures values in the UK tomorrow (Wednesday 17 June) are expected to be around 27ºC, but then on Thursday this will rise to 29ºC, and by Saturday, it’s expected to increase again in more locations until heatwave values are exceeded.
High pressure means for many it will be a dry week with temperatures rising to heatwave level in some areas by the weekend☀️
It’s thought that the highest temperatures in some parts of the country could reach 30ºC on Saturday, potentially even earlier.
So, what exactly is considered to be a heatwave? Well, heatwave conditions in the UK are met when a location records a period of at least three consecutive days with temperature values meeting or exceeding the heatwave temperature threshold for that location.
Across much of the north and west of the UK this threshold is 25ºC, but across Greater London and the Home Counties, the threshold is higher, at 28ºC.
“The rising temperatures this week are a combination of several factors,” commented Tony Wisson, who is a Deputy Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office.
“Over the next few days, settled weather and warm sunshine will allow temperatures to rise day on day. Temperatures will then rise further towards the end of the week as winds turn more southerly and even warmer air over continental Europe will be drawn across the UK.
“We could very well see several places exceeding 30ºC, which will be the highest temperatures of the year so far.”
Tony also confirmed that by the beginning of the weekend “we could very well be meeting heatwave thresholds in places”.
When it comes to how long this’ll all last, that’s a little more up in the air, as while forecasters know that high pressure is expected to move away from the UK into early next week, which will result in temperatures falling, there is uncertainty, however, in how quickly this happens.