50,000 Cardiff pupils have access to the Campaign!

Cardiff’s Echo-backed schools recycling initiative – the ‘Really Rubbish Campaign’ – is celebrating its fifth birthday this month – following its launch in 2005.

The Campaign is now accessible to all Cardiff Primary and Secondary schools, and has helped divert waste from landfill by promoting recycling and composting.

The Really Rubbish Campaign aims to provide a comprehensive solution to meet the need to reduce, re-use and recycle waste in Cardiff. Its objective is to encourage children, starting at primary school age to actively participate in waste reduction.

All Primary schools have the opportunity to download lesson plans and recycling workshops through a specially created learning website for Cardiff pupils and teachers – (www.reallyrubbishcampaign.org). The schools’ environmental successes are celebrated each year at the ‘Really Rubbish Awards and Exhibition’.

Councillor Margaret Jones, Executive Member for the Environment said, “It is wonderful to see the enthusiasm and willingness to learn of so many children the campaign is involved with. They really care about helping keep the City in which they live clean, as well as the future of the planet as a whole”.

“Children are being educated about the importance of reducing the amount of waste we produce in the first place, re-using anything we possibly can, and ensuring that what we can’t re-use is recycled properly. This will serve us well in achieving our recycling targets.”

The Welsh Assembly Government has set a target of at least 70% of all waste generated by households in Wales being recycled by 2025.

Gail Allen, Head teacher at Millbank Primary school – who was one of the first schools to join in 2005 – said, “We have been an active supporter of the Really Rubbish Campaign since we first signed up five years ago. We have had the pleasure of being involved with many of its events over the years, and won the ‘Most Innovative Recycling Initiative’ category at the 2010 Really Rubbish Awards. 

“Recycling is making a huge impact on our school, and every class year-on-year has put their all into making our school far more environmentally friendly.”

The Really Rubbish team also deliver waste awareness workshops into schools, which educate the children about how to reduce, re-use and recycle waste, as well as providing useful tips about composting.

Lucy Parry, Minimisation and Education Officer at Cardiff Council – whose team is responsible for delivering the campaign into schools said, “This year we will be developing more educational resources for the campaign, and will be focusing on further engaging secondary school pupils. We have been working closely with secondary school teachers to put together a wealth of new material.

“We are dedicated to building upon the positive impact of the Really Rubbish Campaign year-on-year, and it is fabulous to see how committed Cardiff schools are to making the campaign a success and how this feeds into us meeting our environmental targets.”