We are delighted to announce that Anni Sander, the Co-Chair of North Hertfordshire and Stevenage Green Party, received a Green Award as part of this year’s North Herts Council’s Chair’s Community Recognition Awards at the ceremony held on Friday the 10th of March.
These Awards recognise the impact and the work that individuals have done in our community and this was a great way to recognise Anni’s tireless and wide-ranging work on local green issues, while also raising awareness and community participation in reducing pollution and waste that comes from overconsumption.
Anni started Plastic Free Hitchin three years ago as an initiative to free Hitchin of single-use plastic and unnecessary waste. As part of this initiative, Anni worked with business and communities to make them aware of waste that results from their operations and help them find less damaging alternatives. The local businesses that pledge to eliminate single-use plastic are honoured by the group as Plastic Free Champions. Plastic Free Hitchin also works with Hitchin Forum to support their big litter picks.
Two spin-offs emerged from Plastic Free Hitchin: Nappies library and Repair Cafe. The former is currently offering reusable nappies rental in Hitchin and North Herts. Repair Cafe has lined up cooperation with campaigns in Letchworth to raise awareness about waste. Repair cafe is a volunteer-run repair shop offering help in fixing items that might otherwise go to waste.
Anni joined the team running the Hitchin Reuse Group four years ago helping it to grow into a successful platform with over 5000 members. The Reuse group is a forum allowing members to share items and food, thus helping divert 100s of items from waste every week.
We congratulate Anni on this well-deserved award and wish her every success in her future projects!