When little things can mean a lot – 400% of a lot for Save the Children

Howard Lake | 3 October 2006 | Newswire

Since January 2006, Save the Children has increased its income from its recycling programme by an incredible 400%, simply by making it easier for their supporters to send them what could be called their rubbish.
This superlative achievement was first started by asking supporters to return their empty inkjet/laser cartridges for recycling; then the return of old and unwanted mobile phones was introduced, with the result that income has soared. Supporters can return their ’empties’ or ‘unwanteds’ in Freepost recycling envelopes, or drop them into any of its 122 charity shops across the UK where they will find a strategically placed, large, unmissable collection box.
Not only is this helping the environment by encouraging recycling, but it is also raising vital funds for the charity’s work with vulnerable children. For every donated mobile phone, Save the Children could receive up to £50.00, and £1.00 for each cartridge that can be recycled. Already many individuals and local businesses are making a point of dropping off their phones and cartridges at their local Save the Children shop for responsible recycling.
Individually, the sums involved are not massive, but for the children that the charity supports, it can mean a lot. 10 recycled inkjet cartridges could buy 500 doses of oral rehydration salts in Niger – that might be the difference between living and dying for a tiny baby. 5 cartridges could buy a mosquito net to help prevent a child from contracting Dengue fever. 1 recycled mobile phone could provide enough toys and games for 20 children – Save the Children recently distributed 1,000 household kits containing food, hygiene supplies, story books and toys to 450 families in the Al Shoka area of Gaza; the charity provided a safe play area in Tyre, and has created and distributed 4,000 household activity kits for children and their families in Nazareth, Haifa and the surrounding villages. The kits offer a respite for children and families from the violence, stress and anxiety they experience.
We are delighted with the response to this recycling scheme” says Sally Brighton, Save the Children’s Director of Community Giving. We want to make it easy for our supporters to donate their printer cartridges and mobile phones – the three options of collection boxes in our shops, Freepost envelope inserts and requested recycling bags have greatly assisted our fundraising efforts. We also now know that we are also contributing positively to the health of our world by recycling cartridges and mobile phones so they don’t end up as unnecessary waste in landfill sites, taking an estimated 1,000 years to decompose. Recycling also reduces the need for raw materials and so helps conserve fossil fuels and reduces CO2 emissions into the atmosphere – a major cause of global warming. That will help our children too”.
Save the Children’s recycling partner, Environmental Business Products (EBP) was a pioneer in working with charities on inkjet and laser cartridge collection programmes. EBP now runs collection schemes in 12 countries and raises around £500,000 a year for charities. Angela Wiseman, Head of Collections for EBP said, Raising 400% extra income for Save the Children is excellent, but we know that there are many more unwanted phones and empty cartridges out there that could be recycled. We want Save the Children to make as much money as possible from this easy to donate, easy to access scheme.”
To find the address of your local Save the Children charity shop, visit www.savethechildren.org.uk, or for more information about recycling, the donation of mobile phones and ink/laser cartridges for Save the Children, visit
http://www.inkagain.co.uk/charity/stc.shtml
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October 2006
Save the Children
· Save the Children fights for children in the UK and around the world who suffer from poverty, disease, injustice and violence. We work with them to find lifelong answers to the problems they face.
· For more information about Save the Children, please visit the website: www.savethechildren.org.uk
· For more information on our shops or recycling programme, please contact Tim Lennon, t.******@sa*************.uk
Registered Office: Save the Children UK, 1 St. John’s Lane, London, EC1M 4AR. A company registered in London no. 178159 and limited by guarantee, Registered charity no. 213890,VAT registered no. 239 5393 33. Patron: Her Majesty the Queen, President:: Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal, Chief Executive: Jasmine Whitbread, Save the Children is a member of the International Save the Children Alliance.
EBP
London-based EBP created the market for recycling inkjet cartridges. It was probably the first company to work with charities on inkjet and laser cartridge collection programmes. The company now distributes millions of recycling bags a year in addition to other collection media through numerous charity and retail partners.
· The world’s leading remanufacturers of inkjet cartridges
· Operates waste cartridge collection programmes across UK and rest of EU
· Helps raise around £500,000 a year for over 50 charities
· Winner of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2004 for International Trade
· Winner of The Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic 2004 Award for Innovation
· Listed in The Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic 2004 Fast Track 100 as one of the UK’s fastest-growing companies
· Selected in The Sunday Times 2004 Tech Track League as one of the UK’s fastest-growing technology companies
For more information on EBP, go to www.inkagain.co.uk, call Pam Fenton tel. 01494 718502, mobile 07751 580510, or email Pa*******@pf**.biz. For more details about inkjet recycling schemes, call FREEPHONE 0800 435 576

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.