Hello again. We hope you have enjoyed the summer break. Welcome too to all our students, whether you are new to Bristol or returning for another year.
Recycling news
From last month, you should have started to receive new recycling containers as part of improvements to help everyone recycle a little more for Bristol.
New red bags are replacing the old brittle green boxes, providing 60% more space for recycling plastic and cans, and residents will also receive a new blue bag for card, cartons and paper – making sorting easier.
Both bags are squashable so they’re easy to store between collections, sealable to help stop recycling blowing out when it’s windy and have a QR code which links to further information about what goes in each container and why recycling is so important for our city and our planet.
We’ve listened to people’s frustrations about recycling blowing out of boxes and littering our streets and having to pay for replacement boxes when the green boxes break. These new and improved containers have been chosen to help resolve these issues.
Households without, or with damaged, brown food waste bins will get new ones and the more durable black recycling boxes will remain for glass bottles and jars. Batteries, vapes and small electrical items can also go in the black box as long as they’re in separate clear untied bags.
Everyone should have received a letter to explain the changes and what the new containers are for. Please continue putting out all your containers on the usual collection day ready for crews to make the swap. Into November, recycling containers will be changed for around 175,000 homes across Bristol, so it’s going to take a few weeks to get to everyone. All old containers will be collected and repurposed or recycled.
The new containers increase the overall recycling capacity for a household from 213 litres to 250 litres per week – that’s an increase of 17%.
Come and say hello
Instead of our usual October surgery, we’ll be holding a drop-in session at Clifton Down Shopping Centre in mid-October. Why not come and say hello, whether you have lived here a while or are new to our community? If you’d like to have a chat about any local issues or just want to meet us then we’d be delighted to see you. To find out about the date and time of this event, email us and we will confirm the details. A big thank you to Richard Ryan, the shopping centre’s manager, for offering to host us!
Contact us
Cllr.george.calascione@bristol.gov.uk Cllr.serena.ralston@bristol.gov.uk
Our oldest resident: Dinosaur plaque unveiled
We were very excited to see the unveiling of a new plaque last month to mark the spot where the remains of the fourth dinosaur ever to be identified were found. Local historian Ashley Coates had got in touch back in 2024 to tell us about his campaign to get a plaque put up. We were very happy to amplify his campaign in this column then and it is fantastic to see the plaque now in place.
Over 70 people, including young and grown-up palaeontologists, as well as local residents, gathered outside 9, High Street near Quarry Steps for the unveiling. Michael Benton, the University of Bristol’s Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology, spoke about the thecodontosaurus, a small, two-legged dinosaur that lived in the Bristol area just over 200 million years ago. He then showed us where the first remains were found in 1834 at the former quarry near the top of Blackboy Hill. The plaque was dedicated by the Lord-Lieutenant of the County and City of Bristol, Peaches Golding. A big thanks to the Clifton & Hotwells Improvement Society for organising this fascinating event.
