A big thank you to the fifteen climate action enthusiasts who braved poor weather to take part in the latest Talking Climate Change event, Ideas into Action, at Richmond Town Hall on 15th February. 

Everybody got involved in choosing which activities they would most like to see take place in the area using an A to Z prompt of possible ideas, and the idea of holding a repair cafe came out on top ! This was closely followed by a renewable energy themed event and an information sharing event to provide advice relating to climate friendly homes and heating. 

Other ideas suggested included a 'People, Planet, Pint' event, having music and joy in Richmond Market Place during the Environmental Fair weekend, and inviting local clubs and societies to have a discussion about the carbon footprint and environmental impact of their activities. Publicising local reuse networks such as the Richmond Group of Pong on Facebook and Richmondshire Freecycle in a director , and inviting traders in Richmond Town Centre to each feature a product produced, packed and transported in a sustainable way.

We are now planning to organise a series of events to reflect this - see more about the programme in general on our home page and look out for items on individual events and how you can get involved on our news page. 

Posted: 21st Feb 2024

Almost 30 like minded people demonstrated the strength of local feeling about the need for climate action by venturing out to Richmond Town Hall on a wintry November evening, for our Talking Climate Change event.  

The event attracted residents from Richmond and further afield, including Bainbridge, Newton le Willows, Catterick Village, Brompton on Swale and Whashton. 

Led by partnership chair Barbara Gravenor, participants enthusiastically shared their ideas and ambitions for doing more to tackle climate change and care for our environment locally. 

Watch this space for more about the ideas and info from the event......

Posted : 30th Nov 23

By Sue Stokes 

Our group visit co-ordinated by Valerie Adams enabled us to a make a full car share from Wensleydale. We’d originally planned to go in Nicola and Kim Robinson’s electric car but the recent storms and flooding made us err on the side of caution and use Alastair Dinsdale’s high wheel base diesel car instead. We decided: Safety first!!

Back to the visit – despite the downpour, all 16 attendees made it before the tour start time. We began in a classroom where we heard about the history of the plant which opened in 2017 and is now being run by Thalia Waste Management. We then did a simple exercise of sorting (pictures) of items to determine how they could be recycled. Fortunately, we got most of them right before we togged up in high viz and walked across to the main plant.

We went into the control area where operators there used many computer screens to control equipment and report plant activity. The crane claw operators were using joy sticks to grab and drop waste to reduce blockages. Many conveyors and sorting stages helped to turn rubbish into energy – enough electricity for 40,000 homes. It’s sifted, sorted and incinerated at over 850 degrees Celsius. 

Why is black plastic so bad? It is not detectable by the infrared sensors that sort out plastic waste for recycling. The average household generates 1 tonne of rubbish a year! We saw how much rubbish is collected in just one week (and this was after everything recyclable is removed).

Energy not Landfill

The content of the black wheelie bins used to go into landfill. Now more than 90% is processed by the plant. It’s used to produce biogas to produce its own electricity. It also generates for the national grid.  By products end up as aggregate for building and for road surfacing.

My most important lesson from the visit was tackling plastic packaging -it is where we could make the biggest environmental impact by reducing, reusing, recycling and recovering.

One single action by us all could make a difference – mine is to switch to glass bottle milk delivery.

Obviously not using single use carrier bags is still a big issue but most of us have already stopped that habit, so probably you could change your washing detergent from powder or liquid to sheets. 

What will your single action be? To find out more visit www.allerton-waste-recovery-park.co.uk . The visitor centre provides excellent guides so you can see for yourself.

posted; 7th Nov 23

The recent citizen science earthworm sampling events in the area have been hailed a success. Samples were taken and photographed at a site in Swaledale and another at Fox Covert, Catterick Garrison.  

Scientist Keiron Derek Brown is using the data collected to see if it is feasible to train artificial intelligence (AI) to identify live earthworms, which we cannot do with the human eye most of the time, because we are not there and our eyesight may not be good enough. Could save some muddy boots and hands though!

Watch this space for future events you can get involved in !

Posted; 7th Nov 23

Several Ricap volunteers made the short trip to Northallerton on Saturday 28th October to support the Eco Festival organised by our friends at Northallerton Climate Action. 

A great little event put on with the help and support of Northallerton Town Council. 

It was heartening to see Cllr Greg White, North Yorkshire Council's  climate change member champion, taking time out from his Saturday routine to answer Q & As from an engaged and informed audience. Sadly, the very real spending challenges facing the Council dominated his answers, and in that context, there is very real doubt about the Council's ability to meet its target to be net zero by 2030.

on the sidelines, we especially liked the 'Tell Rishi' postcard feature, not to mention the vegan friendly cakes and drinks!

Keep up the great work!

Posted: 30th Oct 2023

To coincide with World Clean Up Day on Saturday 16th September, Ricap volunteers hosted a successful interactive drop-in event at The Station, Richmond. It attracted a steady stream of interested and curious residents and visitors throughout the day, with the furthest visitor hailing from Adelaide, Australia! 

An interactive display invited the public to explore all the 'r's of reducing waste - including resisting, recycling and reducing. Hard hitting photos highlighted how animals and birds can be mortally harmed by plastics and other waste, and a deconstructed discarded vape was displayed to powerfully show just how many different bits of metal and plastic can end  up in our environment when vapes are not disposed of properly. 

Our partners at Just the Job completed the display with a selection of eye-catching upcycled and repurposed items created at their workshop on the trading estate.

Well done and thank you to  everyone who helped to make this event a success!

Posted: 19th Sept 2023

Three talented local photographers picked up prizes from Mayor of Richmond, Councillor Ian Woods,  at a presentation event on Monday 21st August. 

Gary Treweek won the adult category with his stunning photo 'In amongst the buds', which shows off the vibrant colours of a kingfisher taking a break from feeding. Jake, a former pupil of St. Francis Xavier School led the field in the secondary school age category with his engaging image of an owl entitled 'Hidden', whilst Evie from St.Mary's School was a worthy winner in the primary school age category with her 'Flowers at Easby' picture.

The picture above shows the winners with their prizes and the Mayor of Richmond.  

Click here to view the winning entries and to see more pictures and comments from the event. 

updated : 12th September 2023

After carrying out an initial survey earlier this year,  Partnership member Lizzie Rumble and her team of 9 bee identification volunteers were out again from May to mid July undertaking 35 bee walks to collect more data about local bee populations.  

Bee walks are a citizen science project set up by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. Volunteers record the temperature, wind speed, cloud cover and of course any bees that they spot!

388 bees were recorded, mostly  bumblebees  - 13 species in all - with a couple of mining bees also  recorded.  On the very last bee walk, the long awaited Bilberry bumblebee (Bombus monticola) was spotted on some early flowering heather.

Want to go on a bee walk? 

Lizzie is looking for volunteers for next year's bee walks, so that she can build a clear picture of local bumblebee populations. Contact wildwhashton@gmail.com to find out more or check back here for updates.

if you own land and would be happy for a bee walk to take place there next year then please also get in touch on the email above.

Read about how the project started here .

Posted: 18th August 2023

A round of applause and big shout out for Bainbridge W.I , who look like they had lots of fun when they held a rework and re-use craft session at Sycamore Hall on Saturday 10th June. 

Activities included origami flowers made from recycled paper, plastic bottle bird feeders (see pic), reworked jewellery, and bottle top mosaics. 

Thanks to Sue for sending this in!

Posted: 18th Aug 2023

Partnership members were outnumbered by enthusiastic scouts and beavers at a rather soggy Richmond Coronation Litter Pick on Monday.  

Organised by Richmond Pride, about 50 volunteers turned out to clean up the town. Cigarette butts, vaping debris, cans, bottles and takeaway cartons were the most picked items, all of which can be readily disposed of in any of the many general and recycling litter bins around the town. 

Thanks to everyone who is helping to make Richmond litter free in '23.

Posted: 8th May 2023