Over the last 3 years more than 30
primary schools have invited us to deliver a litter awareness
presentation to the children.
There are 2 presentations available; a simple picture based preview
of the work completed by the Street Cleansing team for Key Stage 1
children and a more in depth discussion based presentation for Key
Stage 2.
Both presentations are interactive with the children taking part by
giving their views and stories about litter. They are asked to
think about the impact littering has on their environment and the
knock on effects for both people and animals alike. Our hope is
that if we engage with children of this age group they will not
become the litter droppers of the future.
Overall children seem to have a good awareness of the types of work
that street cleansers do and have seen the cleansing operatives out
in the district with the large sweeping machines and completing
manual litter picking. Many of the children learn new words like
graffiti and fly-tip although they knew that unwanted household
items and rubbish should be taken to the household waste site and
that it is wrong to draw or write on surfaces without permission.
There is a general feeling that litter makes the children feel sad
and angry with those who produce it.
Each school visited is given the opportunity to take part in a
poster competition. This years theme was anti-litter; the children
were asked to complete a poster on A4 size paper which could be
words, pictures or both – could be as colourful as they liked but
needed to get the anti-littering message across to others. The
standard of the artwork was outstanding and so many of the posters
conveyed the childrens thoughts and feelings with regard to litter
and other environmental issues. Councillor Roy Barker, Portfolio
Holder for Waste, found the task of choosing a winning poster very
difficult. The 2011 winning poster was completed by Taylor
Humphrey, a student from Thorndon Primary School. During assembly
on 8th July Taylor was presented with a “Monkey” bin for
the school to keep and use.
To find out more about the school project call Sarah Carter,
Environmental Services Officer on 01449 724946.
Please see beneath the winning poster, Taylor’s certificate and
Taylor receiving her award from Councillor Roy Barker.
.