Street market traders are getting ready to “go green” for this year’s Poplar Spring Festival in London’s East End which includes testing what it’s like to drive an electric car.

East London Advertiser: Chrisp Street traders ready to 'go gree' for Spring FestivalChrisp Street traders ready to 'go gree' for Spring Festival (Image: � Rehan Jamil)

The stall-holders and shops along Chrisp Street are getting into recycling for the Saturday festival being staged on April 23, as part of a campaign to recycle more.

Details unveiled by the organisers this week include interactive stalls and activities on the theme of “recycle, upcycle and exchange” where families are encouraged to swap anything they no longer want rather than throwing it out.

Stalls for fashionistas are planned, including a “fruity beauty” workshop. Food enthusiasts get cooking demonstrations, a herb and seed exchange, a skills swap and speaking to gardening groups about their produce.

Other activities are on larger eco issues such as a workshop on how to re-use bulk rubbish, alternatives to disposables and the chance to check out electric cars.

The Poplar Spring Fest organisers, Poplar Harca housing association, Women’s Environmental Network and Tower Hamlets Council are laying on live music and entertainment.

They want traders and families to think about what they throw out in the rubbish each week.

Tower Hamlets already runs separate food waste collections in areas like Brick Lane’s ‘Curry Mile’ used by restaurant owners as part of a business licensing system.

Around 85 per cent of all waste went to landfill sites back in 2008—putting Tower Hamlets on the very bottom rung of Britain’s recycling league table. So the council brought in separate weekly ‘kitchen waste’ collections that year.