It didn't rain all morning it poured!!! But at 2 pm on Sunday 6^th  July the sun made an appearance at The Elstead Moat and so did pirates, unicorns, postmen, rockets, dogs, demons, candy canes and many more as a record 25 boats entered the rejuvenated Elstead Paper Boat Race. Many parents hijacked surviving children's boats and joined in the mayhem!

1^st  Elstead Guides and 2^th  Elstead Brownies were overwhelmed with the response this year and it has become clear that this event is growing year on year. The aim of the race is to construct a craft made from cardboard and paper and sail it, carrying at least one passenger, around a course for 15 minutes. The winner is the boat that completes the most laps.

Many boats floundered on launching, some failed to get to the starting buoy, some went backwards or were lost in the reeds yet many were very successful. There was a tie for first place in the junior race - Joseph Ellis in "Joe Fish" and William Burden and Adam Downing in "Speed Demon" both completed 5.5 laps. In the adults race a very sleek and graceful "Red Dragon" captained by Michael Organe won the coveted first prize, completing 6 laps. The prize for the most spectacular sinking went to "Almost" crewed by the Elstead Guides - it "almost" did not get going at all!! The best design was undoubtedly awarded to the Leaky Tub crewed and made by the McLaughlin family. It was a remarkable replica of an Elizabethan galleon, which was a strange and spectacular sight on the moat!

Spectators and competitors all had a fabulous afternoon and many thanks go to:
AJ Tracy, Jelf Insurance and Howell - Jones LLP for their sponsorship. English Nature kindly allowed us to use the site and Farnham Explorer Scouts provided and crewed a safety boat. Without this help and support this event could not take place. The Guides and Brownies would also like to thank all those people who helped make the afternoon a brilliant success! Get planning for next year!!!

"Why can I only recycle plastic bottles when my wheelie bin is full of plastic food trays, pots and tubs, some of them complete with recycling symbols?"   

This is the most common question I get asked these days.

The answer is that these items are of an inferior plastic which has little market value and no outlet at present in Waverley. If any plastic item other than a bottle gets into a refuse vehicle Waverley Borough Council's plastics processor will not pay for the whole load. Refuse crews are having to reject and put red stickers on kerbside boxes if they are contaminated because they don't have the time to sort through them.

So remember: only put any type of plastic bottle in with your metal/aluminium cans and aerosols. Also, we are now being asked to remove the caps.

I expect many of you are like me: if it were not for the plastics there would be hardly anything in my bin after recycling food waste, paper, cardboard, aluminium foil, glass bottles/jars, cans/aerosols and plastic bottles.

Often it seems the plastic container on supermarket foods is not necessary or there is too much of it.  However, supermarkets do need to protect some foods from damage when being transported. There must be a recyclable container they could use.  Any ideas?