Waste Wise Kids, our non-profit organisation, that works with primary schools to teach children about waste, recycling and sustainability, organised a fun afternoon of reuse and repurposing activities at our head office in Sywell, Northamptonshire ahead of the Jubilee celebrations.
Children from across the county, aged between five and 12, were invited to take part in a creative afternoon where they sourced items that would normally go in the bin and made them into royal crowns to wear over the Jubilee weekend. In addition, the children also learned how to upcycle old skateboards into pet feeders and shelves with the help of Waste Wise Kids volunteers, and played an entertaining ‘Play your Carbs right’ game to learn about carbon!
Rachel Rowley, Waste Wise Kids chief executive said: “The Queen has pioneered many environmental initiatives and urged countries around the world to do more to fight climate change. We thought this would be a great way to mark the occasion!”
“The Waste Wise Kids organisation was launched just before the pandemic, so this is actually one of the first times we’ve been able to invite some of our Waste Wise Kids to visit our head office, which has been newly decorated by our volunteers. We had such a great time sorting out waste items that could be reused, then thinking of ways to repurpose them, all while learning valuable sustainability skills.”
Encore Environment launched Waste Wise Kids to be a valuable educational resource for teachers to develop specific lessons around waste and sustainability as part of their own settings and subjects. The original idea came from her 12-year-old daughter Mimi when she asked her mum, who specialises in waste management for big construction firms, why they don’t learn more about waste and sustainability in school.
Mimi said: “I think it’s really important that young children learn about waste and its impact on the environment and nature, because that is the world that we will live in in the future. I will be going to senior school soon and I’m really happy that a new GCSE subject is being considered that will focus on sustainability, environment and biodiversity, so our generation can make a difference. We all had a fantastic time making eco crowns and pet feeders.”
For more information about Waste Wise Kids and how to get the education programme in your primary school, visit www.wastewisekids.org or search @wastewisekids on FB.