The Environment Centre in Swansea,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, is an independent

charity organisation A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a cha ...

for

environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

information, education and activity. ''Environment Centre'' may also refer to the building the charity is located in. The Environment Centre's aims are to raise people's awareness of environmental issues, to increase the participation in environmental projects and to work towards a more sustainable future. It promotes, for example, the concept of the three Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle).Peregrine, Chris. Waste not want not – recycling is all bagged up. In: The Evening Post, Thu 2 December 2010. The Centre provides support for environmental organisations and groups, information on environmental issues and educational activities. Both the charity organisation and its building serve as a central place of exchange and networking for

environmental organisations An environmental organization is an organization coming out of the conservation or environmental movements that seeks to protect, analyse or monitor the environment against misuse or degradation from human forces. In this sense the environmen ...

all around Swansea and South Wales. Organisations and businesses can hire rooms in the centre for meetings, training, talks, conferences, interviews and events. The centre also has low cost office space available for local voluntary sector organisations.The Environment Centre
, official website. Summary of the 2007–2009 Social Accounts
pdf Information about environmental organisations throughout Swansea
by the Swansea Waste Forum Swansea Environment Centre
in BBC's register of South West Wales Nature Organisations

History

The Environment Centre was formed by the Swansea Environmental Forum (SEF) in May 1994Trustees' report and financial statement
of the Environment Centre (March 2010), provided by the UK Charity CommissionSwansea Environmental Forum (SEF)
official website. with the City Council of Swansea, the

Countryside Council for Wales The Countryside Council for Wales (CCW; cy, Cyngor Cefn Gwlad Cymru (CCGC)) was a Welsh Assembly sponsored body responsible for wildlife conservation, landscape and countryside access authority for Wales. It was merged with Forestry Commis ...

and the Prince of Wales Committee participating.Wilson, D. M. (director of Planning, City and County of Swansea, ): Swansea Maritime Quarter. City and County of Swansea. . p35 The SEF itself is now based in the Environment Centre.Swansea Environmental Forum
'about us' on official website In 1995 the Prince of Wales opened the building. Located in Pier Street, it is a part of the general revitalisation of Swansea's Maritime Quarter.

The building

Before the Environment Centre came to use the old red brick building in the

Maritime Quarter The Maritime Quarter (including Swansea Marina) is a residential area of Swansea, Wales, UK located immediately south of the city centre shopping core. It falls within Swansea's Castle ward. The area is bounded by Brynmill to the west, Swansea ...

, it was used as one of Swansea's telephone exchanges (now located in

BT Tower The BT Communication Tower is a grade II listed communications tower located in Fitzrovia, London, owned by BT Group. Originally named the Museum Radio Tower (after the adjacent Museum telephone exchange), it became better known by its unoff ...

). When renovating the Old Telephone Exchange to shape the Environment Centre, reuse of old materials lessened the needs for new ones. The modern western part of the building, the Resource Centre or annexe, was built by Air Architecture in 1999 and opened in 2001.The Environment Centre, Pier Street, Swansea
presentation of main features in the references of Air Architecture. It was built under eco-design principles, reusing and recycling old material and fitting the building with sustainable technologies. The Environment Centre thus demonstrates practical energy efficiency measures. The Annexe was awarded with the ''Lord Mayor's design awards 2000'' in the Categories ''Best new build – non-residential'' and ''Energy efficient''. A solar panel on the roof of the centre is used to heat the annexe's water and also for the annexe's under floor heating. The

turf roof A green roof or living roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. It may also include additional layers such as a root barrier and drainage ...

and the

organic garden The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to organic gardening and farming: Organic farming – alternative agricultural system that relies on fertilizers of organic origin such as compost, manure, green manure, ...

in the back yard provide an

eco-friendly Environment friendly processes, or environmental-friendly processes (also referred to as eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green), are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that clai ...

environment for the staff and visitors of the centre.Ecological Design Elements Incorporated at the Environment Centre
. Information about the Environment Centre's Building by the Environment Centre

Ecological, organic and fairtrade goods

The annexe hosts a

fairtrade A fair trade certification is a product certification within the market-based movement fair trade. The most widely used fair trade certification is FLO International's, the International Fairtrade Certification Mark, used in Europe, Africa, As ...

internet café and a green shop, providing products which are fairly traded, organic or produced ecologically. Amongst the range of products are Ecoleaf (by Suma cooperative), Doy Bags and

Ecover Ecover is a Belgian company that manufactures ecologically sound cleaning products (made from plant-based and mineral ingredients), owned by S. C. Johnson & Son since 2017. History The company was founded in 1979 by Frans Bogaerts to create ...

cleaning products, which are claimed to be effective and completely biodegradable. For waste reducing reasons, the shop offers the possibility to refill old vessels of cleaning products. Many rooms of the Environment Centre are used by independent environmental organisations, as part of the Environment Centre's policy of supporting environmental organisations.

Information at the Centre

Besides personal answers from people at the centre, the following information is available: *

Positive News ''Positive News'' is a constructive journalism magazine. It publishes independent journalism and aims to help create a more inspiring news medium. Format and circulation ''Positive News'' magazine is published quarterly in print with a cir ...

, a quarterly newspaper published in the UK *''Green Light'', the centre's own monthly newsletter, containing recent affairs, relevant news and events around Swansea *books, leaflets, flyers, brochures, postcards and many other materials on environmental and humanitarian issues

The EC as an umbrella organisation

One of the three aims of The Environment Centre is to support local environmental organisations. This is being done by providing office space to others. The Environment Centre thus functions as an

umbrella organisation An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and ofte ...

for other organisations. These include: * Undercurrents, a video activist organisation providing alternative newsUndercurrents
official website.Good evening, here is the real news
by Paul O'Connor, in: The Guardian, Monday 20 August 2001 * Friends of the Earth, Swansea's local group of ''Friends of the Earth England, Wales & Northern Ireland'', an environmental pressure groupFriends of the Earth
local group Swansea
Sustainable Swansea Initiative
a project aiming for increasing the level of sustainability in all levels of human action in Swansea. One of its projects is a Green Map of Swansea.Sustainable Swansea
official website.
Swansea Environmental Education Forum (SEEF)
an organisation increasing the awareness and quality of environmentally related education throughout Swansea, providing information, resources and contactsSwansea Environmental Education Forum
official website.
MOre Green Project
an organisation for collecting and distributing furniture for recycling and reusingMOre Green Project
official website.
OnePeople Productions
a film production organisation featuring ''underdogs''OnePeople Productions
official website.
BTCV Wales
British Trust for Conservation Volunteers, WalesBTCV Wales
presentation on official website
BikeAbility Wales
an organisation promoting bike riding for people with all abilitiesBikeAbility Wales
official website
Welsh Youth Forum on Sustainable Development (wyfsd)
ref name="wyfsd
Welsh Youth Forum on Sustainable Development (wyfsd)
official website.
Bat Conservation Trust
a project aiming the reduction of waste production in SwanseaSCRAP
profile on the ''City and County of Swansea's'' website *DJ Transport Consultants

for information and activity on Fairtrade
Groundwork
an organisation helping with changes in order to live in better neighbourhoodsGroundwork
, 'about us' '' Undercurrents'', ''OnePeople'' and ''Sustainable Swansea'' both produce videos and images shared on Swansea Telly, a local video portal similar to YouTube.

Footnotes

{{Reflist, 2 Environmental organisations based in Wales Environmental education in Wales Environmental charities based in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in Swansea Charities based in Wales Education in Swansea Organisations based in Swansea Environmental organizations established in 1994 1994 establishments in Wales