Members had been enjoying
several social occasions during the summer. These included the ACWW walk
followed by tea and cake at a member’s house, the County Quiz in Frome where
one of our teams actually won and the President’s Evening social with the golf
croquet and supper. Looking ahead, Christmas loomed into the picture with a
mention of the Christmas Meal possibly being at the Mendip Inn as last year, a
request for items for the shoe box appeal and the agreement to once again bring
some food treats for the food bank in lieu of a Secret Santa arrangement.
For the October meeting we
were asked to bring items for a Bring and Buy and also anything to help us take
part in a “Back to School” session. This could be a piece of an old uniform, a
photograph or simply your memories of the time, your triumphs or misdemeanours.
We then had a fascinating
and encouraging talk from Craig Shaw, the founder of local company Advetec. We
heard about his career path from the steel industry to diving and finally his
present undertaking. Working closely with biologists, Advetec manufactures
machines which use specific molecules to digest waste leaving harmless and
actually useful by-products suitable for compost or fuel. The company has
contracts to deal with waste all over the world including big organisations
such as Apple in the US and the whole of Hawaii. They are confident that in a
relatively short time they will be able to provide machines we could have in
our own back gardens to dispose of rubbish on the spot. This is partly
dependant on manufacturers changing the composition slightly of their plastic
to include an element susceptible to the microbes. There is even the
possibility they will be able to clean up large areas of the sea. It was
wonderful to hear some good news on the ecology front for once.
