Work towards a greener district recognised as Notts Green Rewards is shortlisted for two national awards

The programme has been shortlisted for The Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Award for the category of Climate Response and the Municipal Journal (MJ) Achievement Award for Innovation In Partnerships.

The awards recognise excellence in addressing the climate agenda and the innovative partnership approach demonstrated through the project by all involved.

Newark and Sherwood District Council, along with six other Nottinghamshire councils, Nottinghamshire County Council, Nottingham City Council, the University of Nottingham, Nottingham Trent University and platform creator Jump joined together to create the Green Rewards partnership last year.

Nottinghamshire is the first county in the country to see all its local authority and education partners collaborate on a climate change reduction project in this way.

The platform is one of the District Council’s projects aimed at tackling climate change, promoting behaviour change and working towards making Newark and Sherwood a cleaner, safer and greener place to live, and aims to encourage all local residents to take action against climate change, by making small but sustainable changes in their daily lives.

Residents can log their green activities, such as walking to work, avoiding single use plastics, or eating a plant-based diet on some days, through the Green Rewards mobile app or online at: https://notts.greenrewards.co.uk/ , and the green points they earn for these activities could result in gift vouchers to spend locally!

Each month 2 x £20 vouchers will be awarded; one for the resident who has logged the most Green Points, and another selected at random in a raffle of all resident users of the platform.

Matthew Finch, Director of Communities and Environment at Newark and Sherwood District Council, said: “Green Rewards is a fantastic tool to support and motivate everyone to live in a more sustainable way, so it’s great to see the platform receiving this national recognition.

“As a Council, we’re always working towards a Cleaner, Safer, Greener Newark and Sherwood – not just because we think it’s the right thing to do, but, most importantly, because the residents we serve consistently tell us it is important to them.

“This has been a brilliant project to work on with partners from across Nottinghamshire and I would urge anyone who hasn’t already downloaded the app, to please do so, to help other residents, the district and the county make a significant contribution to reducing carbon emissions.”

The Green Rewards platform is just one of the initiatives the District Council has committed to in order to create a Cleaner, Safer, Greener district. Other work has included:

• Tree planting: More than 18,000 trees have already been planted or given away by the District Council over recent times. An extra £30,000 has also been recently committed in the Council’s budget, to ensure that all the extra trees planted across the district are well cared for and maintained and to enable new planting as well.
• Community garden at Newark Library: From March, the community garden can now be hired for free for local activities and events. The space was designed with sustainability in mind and boasts a range of biodiverse features including wildflower meadows, bug hotels, a living wall, and tree saplings.
• The Great British Spring Clean: 197 local volunteers joined this year’s spring clean and collected 244 bags of litter. The District Council also hosted a jam-packed schedule of green activities, including a public survey for new play park developments and a Day of Action in Balderton that resulted in 6.76 tonnes of waste being cleared from the area, 44 streets being deep cleaned, the removal of eight fly tips, and much more.

Find out more about Green Rewards on the District Council website: https://www.newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk/your-home/waste-and-recycling/recycling/green-rewards-app/.