Recycling education and events
We have an on-going programme of outreach work, to inform and educate residents on how they can reduce their waste.
You can also watch our Sustainability and Recycling video, or check out our Greener Chelmsford video playlist.
Each year, we open up the gates to Chelmsford's recycling, waste and street care depot to the general public.
This is your opportunity to see how we collect waste materials from over 70,000 households every week and find out what happens to it.
The next open day is on Saturday 31 August 2024 and you can find more details on Love Your Chelmsford, or our Facebook page.
When it comes to minimising the impact of consumption on our environment, the best place to begin is by reducing what we use. Here are some ways that we can make a difference.
Reduce
You can:
- use a refillable bottle instead of buying bottled water (see www.refill.org.uk or download the Refill app for more)
- switch to paperless billing and read news online
- bring our own shopping bags to the supermarket
- take a reusable cup to the coffee shop, with many shops offering a discount
- cut down on fast fashion and buy higher quality clothes that last longer
- freeze food that’s close to its use-by date, such as bread to make toast
Reuse
You can:
- donate unwanted items and clothing to charity and community groups
- advertise your unwanted items online using selling sites such as Gumtree, Facebook Sales, eBay and Shpock, or set up a stall at a local boot sale
- upcycle our old furniture into something even better
Recycle
You can:
- recycle waste materials using our recycling collection services
- ask us to collect large recyclable items for a fee
- take them to a recycling centre
The Love Your Chelmsford programme encourages to volunteer in projects to improve the quality of our local environment.
We encourage residents, community groups, schools and businesses to volunteer in projects such as litter picking and tree planting.
You can also find out about becoming a volunteer.