Photograph by Gary Grimshaw
becoming a zero-waste operation in 2019, with the purchase of a wood burner and a machine to make briquettes out of sawdust. Additionally, wood that cannot be upcycled or reused is processed to make kindling. They are now looking at alternatives to plastic packaging.
Strategy & Risk Manager David Rose explained that they hope to be more efficient, reduce plastic and generate less waste themselves at their Trinity site.
‘We are members of the Reuse Network in the UK and we are working with them to identify ways of measuring our carbon footprint and improving our environmental performance,’ he said. ‘This year we are monitoring our waste output so that we can measure how we do in future years.’
‘You can assess your own carbon footprint using an impact calculator like that used by the Reuse Network (
www.reuse-
network.org.uk/impactcalculator/). For example, buying a sofa second-hand rather than new could make a 52 kg CO2 saving. According to
mytoolshed.co.uk, an average sofa’s estimated average carbon footprint is equivalent to 10.1 gallons of consumed petrol.’
‘People think they can’t contribute to climate change but actually you can reduce your carbon footprint significantly by supporting local initiatives like Acorn,’ David said. ‘There are plenty of studies which show that buying second-hand furniture reduces your carbon footprint. By buying reused items, you’re importing fewer goods to the Island, you’re preventing items from going into the waste stream, you’re helping low-income families with goods they could not otherwise necessarily afford, you’re generating an income for a worthy cause as well as providing employment and training for people with a disability or long- term health condition. And it’s a community opportunity for volunteering and social good. It really is as our slogan says: Business for good.’
In 2019, the total amount of unwanted items donated by members of the public weighed 525,238 kg, roughly the same as 300 adult elephants. This represented an 86% increase on the previous year but it should be noted that the Acorn Reuse building at Trinity only opened in September 2018. Up until then, collections had just been taken at their depot at La Collette. 16,434 kg of this weight was re- donated to a dozen other charities and agencies, such as Mind Jersey, Headway,
Tim Le Breuilly and Rik De Louche in the plastic bottle greenhouse they made.
Education’s Family Support Team, the Bridge, and St Martin’s Nursery.
Clothes, bric-a-brac, books and furniture seem obvious things to pass on to others instead of sending to landfill. But Acorn is also a goldmine for other bits and pieces like unusual decorative items, things that might be ideal for young people setting up home, plumbing items and other hardware. After TV documentaries such as those highlighting the problems of fast fashion, Islanders are increasingly considering the environment when making purchases. And certainly the global pandemic seems to have made people stop and think about their spending. In one year, staff can sift through 9,000 bin bags of clothing and more than 68,000 books. ‘It’s still too early to say what the long-term impact of Coronavirus and lockdown will be,’ Jocelyn said. ‘We are still feeling the effects of the pandemic and we don’t know what the winter will bring, but in the long term we are
confident of our future.’
‘I don’t think we have done all we can at Acorn. There are many projects we can expand into, all of them green, such as expanding electricals, going into paint, architectural salvage and building waste. The opportunities are endless. Although Acorn is a huge site, we’re actually running out of space. Maybe we will need further premises. Maybe one day we’ll be looking at Acorn 2.’
Jocelyn returns to the fact that, whatever happens, Acorn’s primary objective concerns the people they support. ‘For us it’s always ultimately about jobs and training opportunities for our clients. We have an ever-increasing demand for our services and more people are being referred to us,’ she said. ‘People want to work for Acorn because it’s such a fun, supportive place to work and we offer interesting and varied roles. Whatever jobs come up, we know we’ll fill them.’
Beyond 20/20 - Philanthropy Page 23
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