Action Briefing Dec 2002 - Jan 2003
	The Newsletter of Birmingham Friends of the Earth

Warehouse News

Cycle Chain, the new cycle shop in the Warehouse, is now OPEN. Normal opening hours are 9-5 Tuesday-Saturday. Their tel/fax number is 0121 643 1500. Discount for BFOE supporters: 5% minimum on bikes, 10% on spares!

Those of you who’ve read articles about Recycling in previous issues of Action Briefing, will know that the situation in Birmingham and the Midlands is not good, but is also not simple.

It is no good collecting products for recycling, if the demand, from the industry, and ultimately consumers, for recycled products, is not there. Increased demand will increase the value of recyclables, and make it more viable to collect them.
The Warehouse is in the ridiculous position of having to pay to dispose of recyclables, and finding it difficult to source recycled products to sell in the shop.

For example, greetings cards are a popular item; but now our suppliers (usually Jodds and Colourstyle/Zodiac), have stopped selling them. So far, we have been unable to source another supply apart from ‘environmentally friendly’ or ‘.... from managed forests’ etc, which, of course, are not recycled. We are too small to buy from Traidcraft or Shared Earth; so if anyone knows of another supplier - large or small - let us know.

Dave Clare