Forest Row

Growing a circular economy in Forest Row

Growing a circular economy in Forest Row

Forest Row has an increasing number of people who are fixing, repairing, sharing and growing food.

These are the key elements of what is known as a ‘circular economy’ because materials keep flowing around the village instead of going to the waste dump!

This article shows just a small selection of amazing local people and organisations collaborating and contributing to build a stronger circular economy by reducing our waste. We’d love you to seek them out and support them.

Frow Resource

Frow Resource is a not-for-profit organisation created to support the community of Forest Row to reduce waste and grow a thriving circular economy.

We aim to use progressive recycling strategies to rethink our consumption. Our intention is to fill the gap left by the 2018 closure of the Forest Row tip by offering residents local options for managing unwanted materials.

Our objectives include:

  • Creating a zero-waste community
  • Creating local employment and apprenticeships
  • Providing financial support to local initiatives in the village
  • Contributing to village retail and community life
  • Raising awareness about waste and how we can collectively reduce it

FrowResource wanted to take over the old Forest Row tip site and run it on behalf of the community.

When we were not able to do this, we stuck to our vision and opened the Second Life Community Shop as the first step towards our long-term plan.

We at Frow Resource are adding names all the time – please let us know if you think of any
other initiatives that could be included in our exciting network.

We want to help more people get involved, both paid and volunteer positions, and increase our collective resilience.

If you would like to help you can:

  • get to know FrowResource, Second Life, and our expanding network
  • support us all where you can
  • share your ideas, imagination and creativity with us – perhaps you have thought of a local service or business that could use support from our Frow Resource Sponsorship Scheme
  • let us know about local waste issues and suggest solutions
  • reduce your own waste by refusing, reducing, reusing, repairing, repurposing, sharing, donating, giving away, recycling, etc.

Second Life

Second Life, Forest Row’s Community Shop, opened in June 2023.

2022. Eighteen months on, it has become a place where unwanted goods can be left, treasures and necessities can be bought, local artisans can acquire raw materials and profile their products, people can drop in to talk, ask questions, browse, have a laugh, and where anyone can join in and work for a few hours to sell, sort or tidy.

Second Life sells, gifts, repurposes, repairs, recycles and collaborates with local artists who reimagine and upcycle donations.

Everyone who has contributed to the creation of Second Life can be proud because it:

  • meets community need
  • creates employment
  • is a valued place to go in the village
  • is a hub for other activities (inc. pop up shops, book club, volunteer socials)

Surplus funds are reinvested into the community through our Frow Resource Sponsorship Scheme.

44 metric tonnes of unwanted goods have been donated to Second Life so far – that’s equivalent to 4 double-decker buses!

Keep it in Frow

Our Keep It In Frow Network shares, repurposes, repairs, reimagines, grows and recycles

Sharing

Repairing

Residents that help us repair donations and great community initiatives such as:

Re-imagining

Wonderful new initiatives:

Repurposing

Residents who repurpose donations:

Recycling

Organisations that deal with waste and/or offer recycling:

Growing

And the network gets bigger:

  • Second Life Fashion Shows and stalls at Forest Row Festival and our local Good Vibrations Festival
  • Events at The VENUe on the Green in Forest Row
  • Frow Resource is part of a network of voluntary groups active in Forest Row working to meet the needs and aspirations of our community

Please let us know if you wish to be added to the list.