To kick start our journey with Marble LDN; we came together to look at what we could donate from their annual conference, with their client Founders Forum.
With lockdown restrictions still in place, the team and their client were tasked with designing a Covid compliant outdoor event. The event, which was delivered earlier this year, had to obey social distancing requirements as well as provide focused environments for tasks and activities within small groups. The inflatable dome stages all had their own sponsor, the different carpets were chosen to match their brand colours.
Carpet is traditionally difficult to recycle and by teaming up with Event Cycle, Marble LDN and Founders Forum planned a post-event route for the material with the Milton Keynes Play Association, (MKPA).
Since 1971, MKPA has delighted generations of Milton Keynes residents with fun-filled play sessions - creating memories of playing on bouncy castles, face painting, crafting under the shade of a gazebo and sliding down the water slip-and-slide. Everything they do is focused on the wellbeing, development and enjoyment of all children through play. The association supports this ethos by providing a unique blend of services to over 2,000 members including not just those with young children or those involved in the child care and education sector, but also to private individuals, other local charities and groups within the wider community.
MKPA also runs the Scrapstore which takes in more than 60 tonnes of industrial waste each year - that would have otherwise been sent to landfill - which is repurposed for arts and crafts, and creative play. This service has continued throughout lockdown, on a no-contact basis, where families order a craft box by email, provide a suggested donation, and collect their box from the Scrapstore car park at Kiln Farm.
The carpet donated by Marble LDN and Founders Forum will be used directly by MKPA during play sessions provided to the community, both indoors and outdoors. The carpet, some of which happened to have been in the MKPA brand colours, will be used for many more years to come rather than ending up in landfill as often event carpet does.
Thank you to our donors, Marble LDN and Founders Forum.
All in all, this is a great example of how waste streams can be optimised for social benefit. Want to know more about how to reduce waste and create a positive impact in the process? Get in touch.