Making good use of plastic.

Last week I was joined by some of the ranger team and volunteers from Sandscale Haws.  They are going to be installing some recycled plastic decking and just as we went to learn from the experience of others, they came to do the same with us.  There’s no need for them to repeat the mistakes that I made when we first started to use the material. 

We went down to Great Bay and Myrtle Bay to see an established section there.  The biggest difference between plastic and wood is the amount of expansion and contraction with temperature so they could see the expansion joints I have been using.  Whilst we were there, they helped me to deal with a couple of posts that had sunk a bit.  We took the opportunity to underpin those to level off the board walk. 

It will be interesting for me to go to see their work eventually and to see if they have developed any improvements that I can use in future.  I’ve mentioned before that the plastic we use is plastic milk cartons collected in the north of England and recycled in Liverpool.  The Sandscale Haws team is similarly keen to minimise the environmental impact of the production and transport of the materials they use.

As they had brought their ranger dog with them, Daisy had a great time running around playing in the long grass.  It was good to work with a new team.  It is always useful to share ideas.

Daisy here:

Life’s great.  It’s my birthday soon.  I wonder what I’ll get.