Crow Recycling will be completely closed on Good Friday which is Friday April 10, Easter Monday which is Monday April 13 and also on Tuesday April 14. After the Easter closure collections of waste paper and cans and delivery of shredded paper bedding packaging will continue with precautions to prevent infection. The Scrapstore has been closed for several weeks to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus. The Scrapstore will open again when the danger is passed. The opening date will be posted here on the Crow website, on Facebook and Twitter as well as being e mailed to those Scrapstore members Crow has e mail addresses for. Educational visits are all cancelled to be rescheduled when schools reopen. Warehouse volunteers were sent home at the beginning of the pandemic. The Crow Recycling warehouse is closed to visitors. To contact Crow staff e mail crow@talktalkbusiness.net or ring Crow on 02476552444.

Crow Recycling delivery van Crow Recycling is continuing to collect waste paper and deliver bales of shredded paper for the moment. Our delivery driver is asking people to leave paper outside premises wherever possible. He is using hand sanitiser between collections and deliveries. Bales of shredded paper are being dropped off while maintaining social distancing from customers. Crow is asking people to pay electronically on receipt of an invoice rather than by cash where ever possible. The Crow Recycling Scrapstore is closed.  Educational visits are cancelled. Warehouse volunteers have been sent home and will not come back until the danger has passed. The situation may change so please keep an eye on this website or ring Crow on 02476552444 or e mail crow@talktalkbusiness.net.

The Scrapstore is closed to help prevent the spread of Coronavirus. Trustees of Crow Recycling have decided to close the Scrapstore for the welfare of staff, volunteers and customers. When it's safe to reopen the opening date will be posted here on the blog, on Facebook and on Twitter. We will also e mail those members we have e mail addresses for. If you are a member not getting e mails and would like to get them please let us know on crow@talktalkbusiness.net. We apologise to those who had hoped to shop at the Scrapstore or donate materials and thank everybody for their support.  

According to www.timeanddate.com, more than 25 million Valentine's cards are sent in the UK alone each year. You could save money and have a more eco friendly Valentine's Day by creating a beautiful handmade card your partner will want to keep, using recycled/repurposed materials. This post will show you how to do that using materials available in the Crow Recycling Scrapstore. First, gather your materials. Here we used a blank card, an envelope, a sheet of patterned paper (all priced at 10 pence each), buttons (£1 for a bag of 50)  and a reel of  cotton thread (20 pence). If you prefer, you could use all purpose adhesive or a hot glue gun in place of the cotton thread. You will also need a sewing needle (if you are using thread), a glue stick and scissors. The first step is to cut out a heart shape from the patterened paper. If you are not confident to do this freehand you could first create a template from some scrap paper, and draw around it on the patterned paper in order to give yourself a guide. Next, glue your heart shape onto the card blank. We used a glue stick, but all purpose adhesive or double sided sticky tape would work just as well, depending on what you have to hand. Now you are going to attach buttons to outline the heart shape. You can do this one of two ways; either using the needle and thread method shown here, or by using a hot glue gun/all purpose adhesive if you find that easier. It is a good idea to experiment with arranging the buttons around the outline of the heart before you commit to sticking them [...]

Child sized safety gloves and ear defenders New child sized ear defenders and child sized safety gloves have arrived at Crow Recycling thanks to grant funding. The new equipment will be used when groups of school children visit the Crow warehouse to learn about recycling. Children love to see the noisy can crushing and baling machine in action but need ear defenders to protect their hearing. The new child sized ones need less adjustment that the current set so are quicker and easier to fit. The safety gloves will make it easier for children to have a go at separating steel from aluminium cans using the magnet built in to the Crow can sorting table. The current adult sized ones are excellent at protecting hands from sharp edges but sometimes make it difficult to pick up cans, particularly for the smallest visitors. The new child sized ones will make it easier for young visitors to handle the cans. Education development worker Lucy Lynch said: "We are delighted with the new gloves and ear defenders which will make the hands on activities a better experience for children on educational visits. Seeing the can crushing and baling machine operating is one of the highlights of the visit, especially for the lucky child chosen to switch it on. But it's a really noisy piece of machinery so ear defenders are essential. Now there is a choice of adult or child sized ones." The grant funding also paid for magnets to be used by Crow staff for can sorting exercises when visiting schools to talk about recycling. Crow Recycling is accepting bookings for school and home education visits during the Coventry spring and summer terms. Visits of [...]

Christmas bows Crow Recycling including the Scrapstore will close at the end of the day on Friday December 20 and open again on the morning of Monday January 6. Merry Christmas and a happy new year.  

Kerry Davies of the Leofric Lions hands a cheque to Crow Recycling's Lucy Lynch A big thank you to the Leofric Lions Club from Crow Recycling for a £200 donation. The cash came from the amount raised by the club at a series of fundraising events during the year. The most high profile were the Coventry Walkathon and the Donkey Derby. Crow was one of a number of good causes to benefit. Here at  Crow we get come of our income from commercial activities such as confidential document shredding but we rely on generous donors such as the Leofric Lions to keep going from year to year. Thank you again to the Leofric Lions.

BBC Coventry and Warwickshire presenter Vic Minett with Crow Recycling Scrapstore manager Lauren Dunn The Crow Recycling Scrapstore was on air on Monday morning. Lauren Dunn, who runs the Scrapstore, and Lucy Lynch who organises school visits, were guests on the mid morning Vic Minnet show. Lauren talked about reusable and recyclable gift wrapping to kick off the show's week of features on the theme of home made Christmas. Lucy talked about the school visits hosted by Crow and paper and can recycling operations. Vic even had time to pose for a quick picture with Lauren after the interview.

Necklace made by Scrapstore volunteer A new volunteer has joined the Crow Scrapstore team showcasing our jewellery supplies. We asked her to browse through the jewellery supplies counter and see what she could make. She came up with these lovely creations perfect for a not from the high street Christmas present. She used chain, beads, nylon, pendants, presentation boxes and jewellery findings all available from the Scrapstore. Jewellery made from Scrapstore supplies The volunteer used her own cutting tool and pliers. We don't sell these at the Scrapstore. Anyone who would like to make jewellery with Scrapstore supplies can pop in during opening hours Mondays to Thursdays 9.30am to 3.30pm or Fridays 9.30am to 12.30pm. Or people can drop in at our pre Christmas Saturday opening on November 30 from 10am to 2pm. To shop at the Scrapstore people must pay a £10 annual membership.