A fundamental community benefit from our furniture store, after raising funds for our community, is to reduce the amount of furniture and other household items going to landfill as waste.

It has been calculated nationally that thirty percent of household items thrown out could have been reused. During the first six months of 2022, the total number of items saved by Kenilworth Lions from going to landfill was 1,627 pieces. The total tonnage saved from landfill for this half year was 22.41 tonnes.

Kenilworth Lions Furniture Store has long been a community hub for recycling spectacles and hearing aids. Spectacles and hearing aids are collected at our furniture store and also from Boots and Specsavers in town.

Kenilworth Lions collect around 4,000 pairs of glasses each year. Lions nationally have now become the number one spectacle recycler in the UK. In the first 6 months of last year, Lions UK have donated 1 million pairs of spectacles. The spectacles are sent to Medico in France (owned by Lions of France) where they are checked, assessed and then sent to Third World Countries.

Over the past year we have added the collection of empty tablet blister packs, corks and clean crisp packets. There has been a massive response to Lions collecting tablet blister packs to reclaim the aluminium.

Arrangements are now progressing for the collection of used laptops and possibly mobile phones. The collection of used laptops/PCs and chargers would help to reduce digital inequality and the negative impact on our environment of sending laptops to landfill.

Although the store has never been a massive user of electricity, a major step was taken to greatly reduce our electricity use by changing to LED lighting. Fuel consumption by the two store vans is kept to a minimum with planned delivery/collection routes.

The ‘dropping off’ of smaller items of donated furniture at the store on a Saturday morning is encouraged to reduce the use of the vans.

Last year we provided eco-books to primary schools to help shape future behaviour/culture with respect to climate change.

A link has been set up with Kenilworth School to support their recycling efforts. Lions provided red boxes for paper recycling in the classrooms.

At all Club events we encourage walking to events (or using public transport), not using ‘single use’ plastics and provide recycling bins.