Red Box Lottery delights winner
A Warwick couple this week received the knock on the door to be presented with a cheque for £50 for simply putting their red box out with contents for recycling.
Warwickshire County Council presented Roger and Ann Hobman from Greville Road in Warwick, with the cheque for £50 as part of a new scheme to encourage people to use their red boxes.
Roger Hobman said: “We always have our red box out and use it for tins, glass and paper, and we’re looking forward to a few weeks time when we’ll be able to put plastic and cardboard in as well - we’re just not sure how we’ll fit it all in. It’s a real help having the red box and a green bin because we don’t own a car or drive, so would find it very difficult to recycle without the council collections."
Warwickshire County Council is working with Warwick District Council to run the Red Box Lottery scheme where each week a household, which has put their red recycling box out for collection, will be selected at random to receive £50.
All residents of Warwick District have to do to be in with a chance of winning the £50 each week is put their red box out for collection by 8am on their normal collection day and make sure it is filled with the normal recyclable items such as paper, glass and cans.
The first two draws have taken place with winners in both Kenilworth and Warwick so far.
The Red Box Lottery will take place throughout January, February, March and April, so make sure you put your red box out every collection to be in with a chance of winning.
The aim of the red box lottery is to encourage even more people to use their red boxes. A recent study by Warwick District Council in partnership with Warwickshire County Council set out to discover how many households in the district are participating in the red box recycling scheme.
The survey was carried out between 8th November 2007 and 11th December 2007, and red box collection crews were followed around different urban and rural areas of the district on three separate occasions to monitor how many households were putting their red boxes out for collection.
The results show that only 52% of households in Warwick District are taking part in the red box recycling scheme.
Cllr Martin Heatley, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for the Environment, said: “The Red Box Lottery is an exciting new way to get people using their boxes and putting items out for recycling. By simply putting out the red box with items for collection you could win £50.
“Hopefully we will see even more people starting to use their red boxes to help us push up those recycling figures and divert waste away from landfill.
“The survey results were extremely interesting, finding that 52 per cent of people are using their boxes. This was the first survey of its kind to be carried out in Warwick District and we hope to carry out an identical survey later in the year to determine whether participation in the recycling scheme has increased.”
If you don’t have a red box but would like to start recycling and be in with a chance of winning £50 please phone 01926 456341 or e-mail ehwaste@warwickdc.gov.uk to order a box.