They say that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure. Nowhere is this more true than at a Give or Take Day, a unique concept developed by Forest Recycling Project, a community group based in ‘beautiful’ Walthamstow. The idea is simple - they just hire a hall for the day, invite people to bring along unwanted items and then let everyone help themselves. In the past they've given away everything from cots and pushchairs, tables, settees and three piece suites, lamps, microwaves, hi-fi's, TVs, carpets, cupboards...in fact everything including the kitchen sink! It’s good for the environment, and for your pocket as no-one pays even a penny for anything.

Since they ran the first Give or Take Day in 1999, the idea has proved hugely successful with Give or Tale Days being run in Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets and Greenwich as well as Waltham Forest. They’ve also started a Give or Take website, to let people give or take 24 hours a day.

There is much more to FRP than Give or Take, however. They run office recycling services in NE London, providing a collection service for office paper and IT equipment, as well as supplying recycled paper and Fairtrade goods, a community re>paint scheme as well as an advice service for local community groups who want to get involved in recycling. In keeping with the Give or Take theme, they also have a large stock of donated files, folders, box folders, envelopes, paper and other office bits and pieces which are free to whoever wants them.

Case study issued in November 2005