Local charity helps raise awareness of recycling

We have been working for a number of years now to try to get people to recycle more and one tried and tested method is to work through local schools.  Not only is this helping us to train up the future recyclers of tommorrow but through 'pester power' we know that kids are great at getting their folks to recycle more today.   It also makes alot of sense for us to get schools on board as their waste is often dealt with through the household waste service, impacting on our recycling rates and after all their waste is also ultimately paid for by the taxpayer! 

Thats one of the reasons we offer a free paper recycling service to all schools in the county and offer expert advice and practical help to get them to recycle more.  Another really useful tool to help get the message out in Shropshire is through school visits, linked to the curriculum which get pupils to better understand the importance of our approach to sustainable resource management. 

So recently we have commissioned local (Cheshire-based) charity Waste Watch to undertake a programme of school visits across the county.  This has been delivered by local Shropshire-based education worker Shirley Barre and her trusty side kick 'Recycler the robot'.  Recycler is a state of the art interactive robot made from upcycled old broken electrical items, he not only takes a whole school assembly and talks to the kids about recycling but he actually raps to get the message across.

Shirley noted that the children were really engaged by the innovative sessions, commenting that “a visit from Recycler is a great way for young people to learn about how important it is to reduce waste and recycle at home and at school. Joining in with Recycler’s rap and watching the games, props and roleplays is a great way to remember these important messages and take them home.”