Vicky Seviour-Crockett turns all types of waste into cash for stillbirth charity
Vicky Seviour-Crockett pioneered an initiative that four and a half thousand people have joined so far.
Her group takes material not readily recycled, such as crisp and sweet packets, biscuit wrappers, bread bags and disposable gloves, and turns it into cash.
It all began when she was pregnant with her son William, who is now seven.
“Just before he was born, I noticed he wasn’t moving so much [in the womb],” she told the Belfast Telegraph.
“I went to A&E three times to get checked out. It was by Googling that I found the Kicks Count charity, which says about 90% of stillbirths can be prevented.
“He [William] was fine, but on the third time the amniotic fluid was gone, so they induced me.
“About six months later, I went to throw out a baby wipes packet and I remembered that you could recycle them.
“I thought that would be my way of saying thank you, so we started recycling baby wipes packets and just carried on.”
Ms Seviour-Crockett signed up with Terracycle, a recycling company that processes hard-to-handle materials.
It offers a range of free programmes, funded by major corporations, which reward participants in the form of charitable donations.
“If we send 5kg of bread bags, we receive £5 — it’s a £1 per kg,” Ms Seviour-Crockett said.
“It’s volunteer-based, so we’re really lucky here because Northern Ireland is so small that we can access it all, and because we live right in the centre, we can offer this to the whole area. We have collection points all over the place.
“It’s really good for raising awareness of how much plastic you use, so even if you’re not on a zero-waste journey, when you start to save, you realise how much you use and then try to find alternatives.
“There’s a lot of refill shops around that support us. They host collection points for us, so not only can you take plastic to donate, you can also get inspired about how to reduce plastic.”
Ms Seviour-Crockett also made use of the ‘adopt a telephone box’ scheme in her Co Derry village of Tamlaght O’Crilly, which is being used as a drop-off point.
“It’s anonymous, so if you eat lots of sweets, you can leave the wrappers there and I won’t know how many you’re eating,” she joked.
“There’s no judgement with me. I don’t see the rubbish, I see the money coming in.”
The processed materials are turned into pellets used to make items such as playground equipment or outdoor furniture.
“We’re always looking for new collection points. We’re looking for the Antrim area at the minute,” Ms Seviour-Crockett said.
“We would like to have a collection point that’s convenient to everybody, so we’ve targeted the big towns, but there’s still a few missing — Larne as well, for example.”
Mid Ulster council has recognised Ms Seviour-Crockett as a litter hero for her efforts.
The campaigner encouraged anyone who wants to get involved to get in touch.
“We welcome any help we can get, [even] sharing a post and telling friends about us,” she said.
“If you want to start collecting for us, we ask you to join the group Recycle for KC – https://www.facebook.com/groups/recycleforkcnorthernireland/
“It can be overwhelming and really confusing. I would say to have a look at what plastics you’re putting in the bin. If you’re binning a lot of crisp packets, start with just those.
“Taking one thing out of your waste will have an impact, and once you get more confident, you can add something else.
“We don’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to do everything or be completely zero-waste.
“We can all do one thing to make a difference.”
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