Kirkliston Community Council went green last Christmas when they unveiled their environmentally-friendly Santa’s sleigh.

One of the highlights of the year for Kirkliston Community Council is their annual Christmas parade, which always includes an appearance from Santa himself.

Powered by a new Lithium Iron Phosphate technology, similar to the technology used in Tesla electric vehicles, the sleigh operated all night long, powered solely by a sustainable energy source.

Kirkliston Community Council applied to the City of Edinburgh Council for a community grant fund, which was topped up by local event business 21CC Group Ltd. This enabled the community council to refurbish the sleigh in spectacular style, using new technology – so it can operate without any carbon output.

Pollinator Friendly Symington, a group set up by Symington Community Council in South Ayrshire, have been working since 2020 to increase habitat suitable for pollinators in their area.

After noticing the benefits of reducing cutting of road verges, Symington Community Council began conversations with local authorities and decided to take on the management of several verges themselves.

Since then, Pollinator Friendly Symington has worked with the local community and connected with a number of gardeners who were already working to help pollinators. The group has led a range of events including moth trapping, bat walks and tree planting and continue to manage local road verges for pollinators, while supporting the community to make their own pollinator friendly spaces.

They have been working with the Scottish Wildlife Trust to install new signage and develop skills such as traditional hedge laying and have even been recognised in a motion at the Scottish Parliament.

Merchiston Community Council in Edinburgh has provided a recycling box for blister packs in a local community centre.

Until now, there has been nowhere in Edinburgh for people to recycle empty plastic and foil blister packs used for tablets and capsules, which cannot be included in everyday plastic recycling bins.

Now Merchiston Community Council has sponsored a Terracycle recycling box for these packs once they are empty, in the hope that hope that it will encourage other organisations, such as pharmacies, to offer the same facility.

The NHS gets through around 150 million blister packs every year, with retailers and private healthcare providers accounting for more on top of that figure. It’s also estimated that every individual in the UK on average gets through 70 paracetamol tablets annually, equivalent to just over four packs.

This adds up to a lot of blister pack waste, but this new recycling scheme aims to reduce that waste in Edinburgh.