Great New Product – The Polanter

The Polanter - Available In Various Colours

This week at The Recycle Works the new products are definitely for Summer! But we thought you would like to show them or give them to your friends. Polanters really are new on the market and we think they look georgous. As we are GYO buffs we suggest that you plant with strawberries, but there are dozens of way to make them sing!

 These vertical gardens can be extended and they all have an integral watering system that will not drop the water to the bottom so the top ones do not get any – and the bottom ones get too much. We think they are a great space saving idea and will adapt for herbs. A column of thyme and another of mints or parsley will give great pleasure in at least three dimensions. That is aromas, visually and can be used for cooking whilst providing food for beneficial insects and bees.

We think these would make great stocking fillers for Christmas!

Plug & Grow Horticultural Light Spectrum

Plug and Grow Horticultural Light

We recieved a question from one of our Recycle Works customers this week and thought the answer might be of interest to a lot of our customers and hence sharing it with you on the blog…..

Q: Hello, I was wondering what light spectrum the envirolite 200w lamp provides? Is it a light/blue or red? I needed to know as the light/blue will be better for vegatative growth, and the red will be better when plants are flowering…

Look forward to hearing from you, Regards K

A: From our very own Sylvia………….

Dear K, Thank you for your email. You are so right. You obviously know your light spectrum well.

The answer is that the Plug and Grow Light comes with a white bulb and we do have the red bulbs in stock for £32.50 inclusive of Vat and P&P. They are on the website at this link:

http://www.recycleworks.co.uk/plug-grow-200w-red-flowering-bulb-pr-16445.html

And the light with a white bulb

http://www.recycleworks.co.uk/plug-and-grow-horticultural-light-pr-16226.html

I hope you find this reply helpful. Please ask again if not and we will try again. Best regards, Sylvia

Love Your Environment!

Another Fabulous Recipe – Spiced Sloe Jelly!

You’ve been asking us for more of our own recipes so here’s one from Sylvia at The Recycle Works that I’m told is absolutley amazing. Let’s hope there’ll be enough for me to try some!

How To Make Spiced Sloe Jelly

Collect the sloes! Say, about  5 lbs Sloes should be plenty.

Cover with Water, add2 cinnamon sticks and about 20 cloves and simmer until tender.

Strain as for the Sloe and Apple Jelly recipe.

Use 1lb Sugar to 1Lb Juice.

Add ½ pint of Malt Vinegar

Boil until set.

Pour into very clean storage jars. Seal. Eat!

Excellent with Steak & Kidney Pudding, Game and Venison.

Love Your Environment!

Our Special Offer Emails

Let Us Help You Find The Perfect Present!

We have been sending out a number of special offers as we are aware that money is still tight for most of us. They are independent to Sylvia’s Briefs. We are directing them to attract a varied range of customers, so many may not be for you.

However as most of us are buying for someone else you could be interested in the ideas. In some of the bundles we will be offering a bargain bundle of potential gifts for a great price but the offer lasts only a day or so. In the coming weeks we will be suggesting gifts that will be good for a particular age band, an allotment and variations on a theme.

Hopefully we can answer the ‘whatever shall I buy for David’s sister – she’s got everything’, question. In fact if you are really stuck, let us know a little about the person you need to buy for and the price range and I will try to suggest something that you can give.

If you’d like use to send you either copies of our special offer emails which contain very special discounts or if you’d like to receieve your weekly copy of ‘Sylvia’s Brief’s written by our very own Sylvia Hopwood, MD of The Recycle Works, just drop us a line to sylvia@recycleworks.co.uk.

Love Your Environment!

The Recycle Works Competes For Top UK Award

The Recycle Works, a Ribble Valley Company is in the running for prestigious UK business award after coming top in the North West region.

The Recycle Works has won the region’s Award for ‘Innovation Through Technology’, sponsored by Dell. It will now go through to compete for the national crown at this year’s British Chambers of Commerce Awards in London.

Set up in 1995, The Recycle Works began as a manufacturer of wooden compost bins and raised beds. Today it is a leading online retailer of recycling products aimed at homeowners, schools and nurseries, as well as wholesalers and other retailers. It received praise, with judges highlighting the business’s consistent growth and ability to harness market trends and new technologies to its own advantage and to the benefit of its customers.

Michael Damms, Chief Executive of East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, said: “Despite the difficult economic climate, businesses across the county are continuing to succeed, overcoming obstacles by adopting innovative ideas and motivating their people. We are particularly proud of The Recycle Works success given the Chamber’s web design team developed the website on which the business has enjoyed its success. The company is a great example of a Lancashire company being one of the very best of UK business and I wish them success in the national finals.”

Clinching this national award would mean The Recycle Works would be in with a chance to collect the ‘Winner of Winners’ £50,000 cash prize. This goes to the category winner that judges believe stands out from the rest. There are eight categories, backed by high profile sponsors including Royal Bank of Scotland, fdf (Foundation Degree Forward), AVG Technologies, and AXA PPP Healthcare. The national winners will be announced at a ceremony at the National Maritime Museum in London on November 26, so please do keep your fingers crossed for us!

Love Your Enviornment!

New Product Range – Leather Gardening Gloves

Leather Gardening Gloves - The Perfect Christmas Gift

As I know, you always appreciate something that is well made to a high standard whilst being affordable and environmentally sound. Well today you will be well pleased with a new order of Gardening Gloves just arrived. They really are the business and, again with gifts in mind we have one pair for almost everybody.

Gloves are things that get lost somewhere and later found, so most gardeners need more than one pair anyway. Further what protects your arms with a gauntlet is quite different to a latex glove for grasping thorns, or another for pricking out. Some are made from lovely soft washable leather, others, in latex will keep your hands safe from tears, and with a variety of sizes there is no reason why they will not fit you like a glove!

These Gardening Gloves are out of the top drawer and affordable. A gift you could use for yourself!

Love Your Environment!

Gadget Of The Month – Stainless Steel Can Crusher

Stainless Steel Can Crusher

For Christmas we have the gadget of the month that will help to cope with all that recycling rubbish that will pile up over the holiday. The Flat Brushed Stainless Steel Can Crusher. It is a very clever and simple, safe operation that is entirely new. To see the Video click here, but note, it was taken in my kitchen and, entirely unrehearsed, just where they normally are you can see the Garden Yogurt Maker and the EM sea salt!

You will not miss the elegance of the classically beautiful design of the Flat Can Crusher and will see why we feel so proud to be the first people Howard Stevenson, the designer, chose to take it to market. Howard is a man for whom only perfection is good enough. He is passionate about the environment and wants to make a difference. As you know we promote, Love Your Environment!

Postal Strike Update & The Recycle Works Deliveries

Annoyingly the postage strike seems to be messing up deliveries whether it goes ahead or not, so we have a plan to outwit them!

 There will be an option, that is, you can opt in or opt out, your choice. It will be offered on the shopping basket on our website. Only for small items that usually go by mail, we will send by overnight courier for a small extra charge of £2.50. This is to give you peace of mind if you need something quickly.

Further we will give you £10.00 credit for use with your next order  if these items are not delivered, or attempted delivery within 3 days of dispatch. All big items will be delivered on the 24 hour courier service at no extra charge as usual. If you have a question about your particular selection please give us a ring on 0800 0320377. It is a nuisance, but we believe this will work seamlessly!

Love Your Environment!

Sloe and Apple Jelly Recipe

Berry Picker - Perfect For Gathering Sloes

In this weeks ’Sylvia’s Briefs’ (our weekly newsletter) we asked you for your recipes for Sloes. Frederica responded immediately with this gorgeous recipe for Sloe and Apple Jelly – which she assures us is absolutely delicious with lamb and ham! A huge thank you to Frederica.

How To Make Sloe and Apple Jelly

Cook until soft (I put mine in a low oven overnight) equal amounts of sloes that have been pricked with a bodkin and roughly chopped windfalls/crabs or any apple with sufficient water to cover. Upend into jelly bag or muslin, leave until no longer dripping (don’t squeeze!) then combine the juice with sugar at a ratio of 1 pint juice to 1 lb sugar and cook until set. Love the site and the newsletters!

Best wishes Frederica

Do you know another good recipe for using sloes apart from soaking them with gin? If so, please do email us at sylvia@recycleworks.co.uk

Love Your Environment!

Sylvia’s Challenge to Prime Minister on Support for Local Businesses

Sylvia Hopwood

Yesterday I was asked if I would like to put a question to ‘a senior member’ of the Cabinet, in person at a special gathering at the Preston office of the Local Evening paper, the Lancashire Evening Post. So full of interest and on behalf of The Recycle Works, I presented myself to the small gathering of local people to ask the Prime Minister what he was doing to help Small businesses who promote sustainability of the environment.

As it was, he was almost an hour late and the questions were limited to a handful and my question had to go into a pot to be answered later. This will give him time to decide if he can do something constructive!

The range of questions were limited to behavioural problems amongst the young, employment prospects for the defence suppliers in the area, MP’s expenses, the doubtful commitment of some members of parliament in marginal seats to put their weight behind local issues for fear of losing votes and why the banks are not lending. Not bad really for part of a morning’s work. I met some interesting people there, all who had good reason to ask their question. All in the life of……..

Love Your Environment!