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Texts spread the message on how to stay green in Capital



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Published Date: 02 December 2008
By CHRIS MARSHALL
EDINBURGH residents are to be among the first in Scotland to be sent text messages to remind them to recycle.
The service, which is being provided by a private company in partnership with the city council, will use text alerts to highlight upcoming recycling and refuse collections.

Users sign-up for the scheme online by entering their post code into the
website for provider GreenBoxDay.

They are then sent text messages, costing 25p each, alerting them to collections in their area.

Councillor Robert Aldridge, the city's environment leader, said: "Edinburgh residents have well and truly got the recycling bug and we are delighted that we remain on course to reach our 30 per cent recycling target for 2008-9.

"We are doing everything we can to make it as easy as possible for people to follow the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle message and I'm sure these text message reminders will give a helping hand."

The scheme came into being after independent website GreenBoxDay contacted the city council and were provided with the local authority's collection schedules.

The company originally offered a free e-mail service for users, but extended the scheme to mobile phones after requests from customers.

Humphrey Dunn, from GreenBoxDay.co.uk, said: "We are delighted to announce the launch of our new text messaging service for the city. It provides yet another way to keep informed about recycling in Edinburgh."

Edinburgh is one of the first local authorities in Scotland to sign-up for the scheme which operates in a number of English towns. Last month, city leaders agreed to extend the opening hours at recycling centres across the Capital.

The new hours will mean the sites are open to the public for an extra 1000 hours a year.

Council chiefs claim the move could result in as much as a 30 per cent increase in on-site recycling and a three per cent increase in the overall recycling rate.

Charlotte Encombe, of environmental group Greener Leith, welcomed the scheme, but said more needed to be done to encourage the public to reuse materials, rather than simply recycle them.

She said: "This is something that Greener Leith itself had been considering, but I'm very pleased to be pipped to the post. It's a fantastic idea because people do forget when to put their bins out.

"The next thing we need to move into is reusing materials and looking at schemes such as charging a deposit for drinks bottles so that they can be returned to shops like they do on the Continent."





The full article contains 435 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 02 December 2008 11:13 AM
  • Source: Edinburgh Evening News
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Environment
 
1

Alternative (High-Octane) Fuel Head,

Edinburgh 02/12/2008 11:50:20
25p a time for a computer to automatically send a text message to your phone.

Now. I wonder what the REAL reason for this scheme is?
2

allknowing,

02/12/2008 12:00:27
#1 my thoughts exactly.

So you pay 25p, and in return you get a text, and loads of junk mail, as they now know where you live, and your mobile number (expect sales calls).

Eejits the lot of you.
3

S'me,

Edinburgh 02/12/2008 12:49:27
Won't the people who sign up for this be more likely to recycle anyway? I myself would just like the option of recycling paper only in Albert St, no glass, no tin, no plastic....
4

,

02/12/2008 13:24:54
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
5

Dragonlord,

02/12/2008 14:07:38
What is the point of recycling? On a recent visit to the main recycling facility on Dalkeith Road, I had a boot load of cardboard.I was informed that all PAPER had to be removed from the cardboard( WHY?) and when I did so, the attendant then put all the paper in the land fill skip!!
6

ddmc,

02/12/2008 14:23:03
25p per text, great bargin that is, it costs the mobile network operators zilch p per text, SMS uses the signaling channel & doesnt eat into the channels used for voice & data. You need a signaling channel to set up the voice or data call.
So how much of the 25p will greenday & network operator get & how much to the cooncil.
Apart from the fact that mobile phones contain all sorts of very eco UNfriendly components & the obvious use of leccy to charge the fones & power to the base stations.
7

observer9,

02/12/2008 15:41:07
Dear Councillor Robert Aldridge and your team. You have ably demonstrated your inadequacy in media buying as someone, somewhere is making a wheen of profit out of this.

So who are the private company and did you get other competitive quotes for this easy to deliver service.

8

Finbarr Saunders,

02/12/2008 17:46:13
Let me get this straight - the Council expect residents to sign up to a service that will cost them 25p per text message received to tell them where to recycle to help the Council reach a recycling target?

Whoever thought this would actually work must be living in cloud cuckoo land.
9

Navvy,

03/12/2008 02:11:58
SOUNDS LIKE THE IRRITATING EXHORTATIONS ON THE MOTORWAY GANTRIES - something withiut which I can do

A better usr of texts would be reminders for appointments eg outpatients and whe you have reached third in the clinic queue

As for Edinburgh's recycling !@#$%^& 3 weeks and no response to an email to their own link and then the councilors took another 3 weeks to get them moving after which I got a partial reaponse only.

Their stable needs a major mucking out!
10

GreenBoxDay,

Shrewsbury 03/12/2008 09:25:33
The article only briefly mentions that the core offering from GreenBoxDay is a free weekly email essentially reminding residents what and when to put out their recycling and garden waste.

This is a very popular service throughout the UK and particularly in Edinburgh. The email service is completely free to all councils and their taxpayers.

The text messaging service is in response to requests by councils and users and, whilst we know it is not everyones 'cup of tea', there has been an encouraging take up of this option.

GreenBoxDay does not make user data available to other companies to send out spam emails or unsolicited text messages.

The premise of GreenBoxDay is to encourage all of us to reduce, reuse and recycle our waste, rather than burying it in landfill sites at a huge cost to local taxpayers, the environment and future generations.

However, we appreciate comments about our service - good and bad - and invite you to see for yourself by giving GreenBoxDay.co.uk a try.
11

GreenBoxDay,

UK 03/12/2008 10:09:35
The article only briefly mentions that the core offering from GreenBoxDay is a free weekly email essentially reminding residents what and when to put out their recycling and garden waste.

This is a very popular service throughout the UK and particularly in Edinburgh. The email service is completely free to all councils and their taxpayers.

The text messaging service is in response to requests by councils and users and, whilst we know it is not everyones 'cup of tea', there has been an encouraging take up of this option.

GreenBoxDay does not make user data available to other companies to send out spam emails or unsolicited text messages.

The premise of GreenBoxDay is to encourage all of us to reduce, reuse and recycle our waste, rather than burying it in landfill sites at a huge cost to local taxpayers, the environment and future generations.

However, we appreciate comments about our service - good and bad - and invite you to see for yourself by giving GreenBoxDay.co.uk a try.
12

materialise,

03/12/2008 11:19:42
To Councillor THICKO.

An International text message from my provider is 15 pence.

Stop whizzing away taxpayers money on stupid programmes.

13

GreenBoxDay,

Shrewsbury 03/12/2008 11:40:46
The article only briefly mentions that the core offering from GreenBoxDay is a free weekly email essentially reminding residents what and when to put out their recycling and garden waste.

This is a very popular service throughout the UK and particularly in Edinburgh. The email service is completely free to all councils and their taxpayers.

The text messaging service is in response to requests by councils and users and, whilst we know it is not everyones 'cup of tea', there has been an encouraging take up of this option.

GreenBoxDay does not make user data available to other companies to send out spam emails or unsolicited text messages.

The premise of GreenBoxDay is to encourage all of us to reduce, reuse and recycle our waste, rather than burying it in landfill sites at a huge cost to local taxpayers, the environment and future generations.

However, we appreciate comments about our service - good and bad - and invite you to see for yourself by giving GreenBoxDay.co.uk a try.
14

Willy10,

Ex-pat in England 03/12/2008 15:32:49
Obviously not one of you have really read the story properly. I use the email service - which is absolutely free for me and brilliant - and if you look at the greenboxday website its free to councils too. The text is an option and obviously carries a cost - you can either pay it or not. Put your glasses on!
15

Pumpkin,

09/12/2008 21:33:39
As someone who actually collects the kerbside recycling I can say that the text service is a useful addition to the calendar provided with the boxes. Relying on seeing which box your neighbour has put out, only works if your neighbour (or whoever is first in your street) has put out the right box themselves. However, the simplest solution, if you can't remember which box goes out which week...put them both out and we'll pick up the right one! :-)

Note to EEN re today's vote. How about a 4th option? "I put the right box out each week"

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