Pupils get creative with sustainable play this Recycle Week

Pupils at Garth Primary School in Maesteg learnt all about sustainability through play this week, in a creative workshop held by the council’s waste and management provider Plan B Solutions to mark UK Recycle Week. (14-20 October).

Highlighting this years’ theme ‘Rescue Me’, pupils were taught about the importance of ‘rescuing’ and recycling everyday household items from the rubbish bin, to raise awareness of the lifecycle of materials through the reduction, reusing and recycling of waste.

Encouraging pupils to incorporate recyclable materials into their playtime, the workshop demonstrated how reusable materials such as fabric and household objects can be repurposed into toys and other creative tools.

The workshop also coincides with the council’s relaunch of the ‘Activity Pod’ scheme initiated by its Active Young Peoples department in schools across the county borough.

The initiative was originally set up in 2012 to support the importance of play by enhancing and enriching school playtimes. Discarded materials are donated from businesses and households, which are then are made safe and repurposed for the Activity Pods before being sent out to participating schools for pupils to use for imaginative, outdoor play.

If you would like to find out more about the council’s Activity Pod scheme, please contact Kelly Wake.

It’s fantastic to see the pupils so engaged with the importance of sustainability in such a creative and educational way. Events like this reflect our commitment to educating and encouraging community-wide participation in reducing waste across the county borough.

Teaching children the value of using recyclable and reusable materials is fundamental in shaping their future environmental responsibilities and is also a brilliant way of feeding their imaginations.

A big well done to the pupils who took part in the workshop today, I’d also like to thank our partners, Plan B Management Solutions, and Groundworks UK, for facilitating the workshop, and for their donation of materials from both the community recycling centre in Maesteg, and its reuse shop ‘The Sidings’.

Cabinet Member for Climate Change and the Environment, Councillor Paul Davies