The list of new and ground-breaking projects that CRISP  has developed since it first started in 1992 is a long one – including a mobile phone recycling scheme that is now being rolled out nationally by the Body Shop. However, CRISP is not an organisation to rest on its laurels, and they are always seeking new ways to help improve their local area, both environmentally and economically.

Their newest scheme, an IT shop and training centre based on the Heygate Estate in Southwark, helps on both counts. It is part of CRISP’s Ex-IT scheme, which was set up to enhance the employment prospects, education and skills of local people, as well as reducing the amount of electronic waste sent to landfill. Working in partnership with Southwark Council and REALISE IT, the scheme collects unwanted computer equipment from local businesses and residents in the London Borough of Southwark, Lambeth, Westminster and City of London. Reusable equipment is tested, refurbished and made available at low cost to local residents, community groups, voluntary sector organisations and start-up businesses. The ICT Reuse Centre aims to be a one-stop shop for the community’s IT needs; providing affordable IT equipment as well as advice and training. In addition, the centre allows users to save even more money by enabling them to access ‘open-source’ software, which saves on the cost of license fees.

Other projects set up and run by CRISP include:

• OFFERS (Office Furniture Fittings Equipment Reuse Scheme) in 1997, the first office furniture reuse project in the UK
• Fones for Safety – mobile phone recycling
• Student Halls Recycling – encouraging students in residences to recycle

Innovation

The secret to their success lies in CRISP’s focus on innovation – creating ground-breaking projects that can be duplicated by other organisations. For example, office furniture recycler Greenworks took its inspiration from the OFFERS project and the Fones for Safety scheme is now rolled out nation-wide with the support of The Body Shop.

As their main motivation is on creating sustainable development, CRISP places a lot of emphasis on working with local residents and businesses to set up their own schemes in addition to CRISP’s existing projects. In addition, they work closely with other community sector organisations, such as the Community Composting Networking (CCN) and the Furniture Reuse Network (FRN), feeding back their expertise to enable a cross-flow of information.

Support from London CRN

According to Armin, perhaps the most important benefit of membership of London CRN is the networking element; disseminating information to smaller groups and enabling them to access a range of support that they may not otherwise have been able to.

Being involved in London CRN has also enabled CRISP to help other groups access this support. As a consultant for London CRN’s Sharing Resources Programme, Armin was able to share his expertise with other groups. As a result, a local tenants and residents association was successful in gaining funding for a community composting scheme.

Case study issued in November 2005