health condition. Acorn is a social enterprise run by the Jersey Employment Trust, a registered charity. Executive officer Jocelyn Butterworth said: ‘Acorn forms a significant part of the Island’s waste strategy. We are stopping hundreds of tonnes of goods from going through the waste stream and therefore being burnt. Our social media is helping the public think before they buy and before they throw things away. Can this item be used by someone else? Could it be upcycled or repurposed or sold to someone else? We are always saying “second hand isn't second best”.
‘We have a number of projects at Acorn, which provide great opportunities for our clients around repurposing and upcycling, and we are always looking for more craft ideas from waste goods. Earlier this year Acorn clients made a greenhouse out of plastic bottles and even made toys out of fire hose for the gorillas to play with at Jersey Zoo.’
The Island-wide lockdown forced Acorn Reuse to close its doors for 15 weeks, during which staff bubbles, working hours and daily operations were revised. A new storage area was created, where members of the public drop off their items. Having been well received by customers and staff alike, it is something that Jocelyn is keen to develop as a permanent feature.
‘Some of the changes have been for the better and I do think you've always got to look at the bright side,’ she said. ‘We had never thought of this drive-through arrangement before and now, subject to funding, we would like to build a more permanent structure, which would house our sorting facility, freeing up a lot of space in the shop and giving us room to expand into other areas. We have always planned to move into repurposing white goods and a new facility would enable us to do that.’
‘Acorn needs to expand the range and volume of goods it passes on to the public and make it easier and even more accessible.’
The social enterprise, which offered 51 paid jobs in 2019, is leading by example and its Business Plan (the launch of which was cancelled due to lockdown) states clearly its green intentions. Its environmental objective is to ‘assist in the protection and preservation of the environment and promote the concept of reduce, reuse and recycle waste’.
Everything including the kitchen sink! OK, it’s a basin but you get what we mean. Everything has a chance to be reused at Acorn. Acorn staff member John Last accepts donations in the new drive- through area at the back of the Trinity site.
Page 22 Beyond 20/20 - Philanthropy
The ways it intends to do this include:
• Supporting the Island’s Carbon Neutral Strategy and making incremental improvements in its own carbon emissions year on year
• Achieving Eco Active Network Business accreditation
• Increasing the range of products for retail thereby removing more from the waste stream
Jocelyn added: ’Our Business Plan is quite broad and, despite coronavirus, our objectives are the same. They might just take longer to achieve. We started on the green theme and we intend to stay that way. It’s also about involving the community and it’s about creating partnerships with the community where we can offer greater good to Jersey, not just for our own charity, but supporting others.’
Another strand of the Acorn business unit, the Woodshack, which reuses waste timber, has already led the way by
Acorn clients have made toys out of old fire hose for the gorillas at Jersey Zoo
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