Greenfields Residents Association

Residents are reminded to securely store their wheelie bins.  A number of incidents of stolen/damaged wheelie bins in Greenfields have been reported to the Residents Association.  Wheelie bins have been taken from outside properties and dumped in the green area at the end of the estate and near the bog/Avondale area.

It is important that bins be secured.  If rubbish from your wheelie bin is found in any public area you could face a fine/prosecution from Waterford City Council under the Litter Pollution Act 1997.  The on-the-spot fine for a litter offence is €150 with a possible maximum fine in court of €3,000.  Please report any missing wheelie bins to the Residents Association and any incidents of rubbish to the Litter Warden of Waterford City Council on 051849563.

To all residents of Greenfields, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  The past few months have been a busy time around the estate; the last few houses are almost complete, additional landscaping has commenced, and the green area in Beech Drive is taking shape.

Going forward, the Committee are looking forward to working together to keep our neighbourhood a safe and enjoyable place to live. 

Christmas is a time of particularly high energy consumption. The whole house is heated as extra family members return home for the holidays. Lights, televisions and stereos are left on and cooking appliances are used more heavily as well as the many electric gadgets that are purchased as gifts.

You can save your household money at this time of year by being careful with your energy usage. But the good news is that there are plenty of ways that you can reduce the amount of energy you use while still decorating your home with Christmas lights. Below are some tips to consider this Christmas:

• Turn off your Christmas lights during the day and when you go to bed.
• LED (Light Emitting Diode) lights are ideal for strings of Christmas lights because they don’t get hot, they last up to 100,000 hours when used indoors and when one burns out, it doesn’t take the whole chain with it! They use up to 90% less energy than the traditional, larger Christmas bulbs. LED lights give off less heat, making your lights safer. What more could you ask for?
• If your Christmas lights are on, turn off some of your main lights.
• At Christmas over a 30 day period three sets of 100 traditional fairy lights would typically cost €5.00 in electricity, similar mini-lights would cost €2.00 to run and LED Lights can cost as little as €0.60 to run (allowing for lights to be on for 8 hours per day).
• Turn your heating down in the kitchen while cooking the Christmas dinner. Heat from the kitchen will keep surrounding areas warm.
• Extra activity and people in the home will mean it is easier to keep warm, turn your thermostat down a degree or two.
• Naturally made decorations such as holly and mistletoe will give your home a traditional festive feel without using any energy, and can be composted in January. Growing your own in the garden will keep you in ready supply.

Source: Environmental Services, Waterford City Council

Did you know that 1/3 of the food that we buy ends up in the bin? This habit can cost the average household up to €1,000 per year!

Nearly all this food waste is thrown in the bin and while some is composted, some of it ends up in the local landfill. In the landfill, rotting food decomposes to make methane and other gases – these are greenhouse gases. And food waste CAN be avoided.  The first step is to learn more about what we are throwing out so that we can then do something about it. www.stopfoodwaste.ie and http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/recipes provide information about food waste, along with handy recipes to use up ingredients and leftovers. You can even search recipes by the type of foods that you want to use.

There are a few simple things that we can all do to prevent food waste this Christmas:

• Be aware of the types of food that you throw out. This week, make a list of what you throw out – you’ll be surprised by what you find. The main types of avoidable food waste are bread, apples, potatoes, salads, meat, fish, yoghurt, salads, spreads and dips.
• Once you know what food you throw away, the next step is to buy better. From your checklist, you will now have a good idea of what you throw out. Use this information to change the way that you buy these particular items.
• Create a list before you go shopping, to cut down on the risk of impulse buys and prevent you from buying those foods that you now know you throw away.
• Be realistic about how much food you’ll actually need to serve your guests over Christmas —and don’t be afraid to be a little stingy. The Love Food Hate Waste organization has a “perfect portions” planner that can help you right-size your meal.
• There are plenty of other things that you can do to ensure that you don’t waste food and money. This includes storage and cooking food. Through clever cooking, storage, etc you can cut back of food waste without affecting your meals.
• Create new meals from those leftovers—again, the Love Food Hate Waste and Stop Food Waste websites have a number of useful recipes for food scraps.

Source: Environmental Services, Waterford City Council

A silver/grey female tabby kitten, about 6 months old, was found on Saturday 5th November in the Beech Court area of Greenfields.  If this is your cat or you know who is the owner of this cat can you please contact Jana on 085 1141982.

The Greenfields Residents Association wish all residents and especially the young children of the estate a very happy and safe Halloween. To ensure that this year’s Halloween period is safe and fun for all, the Greenfields Residents Association will be actively monitoring the estate and surrounding areas over the coming days and for the entire Halloween weekend.

Should you notice waste for bonefires building up or any anti-social behaviour you are encouraged to report such incidents to the Greenfields Neighbourhood Watch Area Coordinator (Brian Power) on 0879762955.  Additionally, please use the below contact numbers:

Waterford City Council
(Environmental Dept. for removal of bonefire material etc.)

Until Friday 28th October (Office Hours) – 051 849563
Until Friday 28th October (Out of Hours Emergency) – 051 309900
From Saturday 29th to Monday 31st October – 051 849794

Waterford City Council
(Fire Services)

All Weekend – 051 875556

An Garda Siochana
(Waterford City)

All Weekend – 051 305339 or 305300
Emergency Serivces – 999 or 112

Local Representative
(Cllr. Seamus Ryan)

All Weekend – 087 6805314

Greenfields Neighbourhood Watch Area Coordinator
(Brian Power – No. 1 Beech Grove)

All Weekend – 087 9762955

Do you want to save energy around the house but you’re not sure where to start? Well look no further because the ESB Electric Ireland Energy Saving Wizard can help! It’ll cost you nothing, but it could mean a world of savings.

The ESB Electric Ireland Energy Saving Wizard will ask you some simple questions about your home, such as what kind of heating system you have, or whether your attic space is insulated.

The questions are all very straightforward, and ESB Electric Ireland have made sure to include some handy hints so you find the process as easy as possible. All you need is a few minutes and once it’s complete, you’ll receive your very own personalised energy saving report.  To start saving energy and money go to www.esbenergywizard.ie

Source: ESB Electric Ireland

You can refer to the “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” slogan thousands of times and still not get at the heart of the issue. As one way to “reduce” your rubbish, precycling is a way to reduce waste at the source.  It’s the ultimate way to limit your use of resources, save energy, and cut the amount of garbage you produce. Plus, it’ll likely save you a bundle of money! Below are some of the best precycling tips to get you started:

• Get into reusables: By choosing reusable products rather than those you’ll throw away after one use, you’ll be preventing the use of disposable products. That means using: reusable shopping bags, stainless steel water bottles, reusable coffee mugs, cloth napkins, reusable cleaning supplies (instead of paper towels and disposable mop heads), glass and stainless steel food containers, reusable lunch bags that last for more than one use.

• Opt for bulk, concentrated products: Reducing the quantities of packaging used to wrap up your various purchases is another way to prevent waste before it is consumed. Concentrated foods and cleaning products pack more punch for their volume and require less total packaging. Likewise with bulk products. Just be sure that you don’t confuse genuinely bulk products with hundreds of individual packages cello-wrapped together.

• Choose recycled products: Looking for items made with recycled materials means that more virgin resources are saved, which is another way to precycle. Check labels, and look for those products that consist of recycled plastics, paper, metal, and so on.

• Less printing: In many cases, that memo or email or receipt doesn’t need to be printed – an electronic copy will suffice. So stop yourself from clicking the “print” button to prevent paper waste from the start!

• Avoid Styrofoam: Because this type of packaging is difficult to recycle (facilities are few and far between) and toxic from the get-go, it’s best to avoid it whenever possible. So whether buying mushrooms or shipping a package, choose alternate materials.

• Choose quality: Initial cost isn’t everything. When you choose the cheaply made product, you’re setting yourself up being saddled with waste when it breaks prematurely. Instead, pay a little more (although this isn’t always required) to buy the product that will last longer. In the end, it’ll save you money and reduce your waste tremendously.

• Go rechargeable: Sure, investing in rechargeable batteries and a charger will cost you more up front, but in the end, it could save you hundreds of euro every single year. And because batteries are made with heavy metals (and often not recycled), you’ll be preventing that waste in the process.

• Choose the least-packaged option: When comparing items, choose the one with the least amount of packaging. A shampoo bottle sold in a cardboard box results in unnecessary waste – the one without the box is preferable.

• Prevent junk mail: The epidemic of unwanted mail has impacted almost every developed country with companies and nonprofits soliciting individuals on a variety of issues without end. You can stop the waste by removing yourself from mailing lists so that the junk mail is not sent to your home or office in the first place. Alternatively you can place the “NO JUNK MAIL” self-adhesive sticker recently posted to you by the Greenfields Residents Association on your letter box.  A big thank you to all those households who have done so to date.

Source: ecolife

The Greenfields Residents Association is committed to reducing waste and encouraging all households to think and act responsibly to reduce waste.  Every week a large amount of unwanted and often unsolicited junk mail is distributed to all households in our estate.

Therefore, to combat this problem and to reduce waste the Greenfields Residents Association will be distributing a “NO JUNK MAIL” self-adhesive sticker to every household in Greenfields over the coming days.  Please place this sticker on your letter/post box.  Not only will this stop unwanted mail but will help you reduce your waste cost over the year.

The contractor working on the Old Tramore Road had requested an extension to the closure, but Waterford City Council has decided against this.  Instead, a temporary stop go system will be in operation by the end of this week. Senior Engineer Frank Roche says the view of residents and businesses in the area to an extension of the closure was very clear.Frank Roche says the stop go system should work well.

Source: WLRfm