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A new attraction at this
year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show has crowds flocking - but
it's not a conventional exhibit.
The Show's garden leftovers are being offered to community
groups and charities who can re-use them, proving that one
person's discarded flower-pot can be another's treasure.
The re-use yard, run by the Charities Advisory Trust, opens
its doors today to find new homes for flower show materials
which are not otherwise recycled.
Exhibitors dismantling their sites have been depositing
materials with the yard, based at the RHS Chelsea Flower
Show site, since the end of the Show on Saturday. For the
next eight days, groups will visit the yard by prior arrangement
to collect materials including flower-pots, wood and stones.
Environment Minister Joan Ruddock, who visited the yard
today, commended this practical approach to re-using materials.
"The re-use yard reflects people's growing interest
in re-use and recycling. As a frequent Chelsea visitor myself
I've often wondered what happened to all the 'hardware'
left after the plant sales ended. This is the ideal solution.
The scale of Chelsea means lots of communities will benefit.
I hope the partnership between the RHS and the CAT will
become a permanent feature."
Charities Advisory Trust Director Hilary Blume identified
the possibilities for the yard when she saw the opportunities
for surplus materials which could be put to use by community
groups.
'The Trust knew these materials could be re-used, so we
came up with a simple solution which provides groups like
city farms, schools community projects with gardening materials.
And it's also convenient for exhibitors dismantling their
sites.'
'The Trust has made a commitment to clear the yard of materials
so has arranged with Enviroworks Lewisham and the National
Community Wood Recycling Project that they will scoop up
all leftovers, to use on their projects. A win/win solution".
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