A group of Basildon primary school children turned eco warriors by donning hi vis jackets and litter pickers to carry out a clean-up exercise in support of the “We’re Cleaning Up” campaign.
Pupils from Greensted Junior School were joined by Leader of Basildon Council Councillor Gavin Callaghan, Mayor of Basildon Councillor David Burton-Sampson and street scene officers on Tuesday 1 October.
Basildon Council launched the campaign in the borough in August with the aim of uniting the whole community against the blight of dumped waste and litter.
The campaign, which will run until October 6, aims to raise awareness of enforcement action taken by the council, highlight what flytipping is and promote action taken by local communities to help keep neighbourhoods clean and tidy, with the overall aim of reducing levels of dumped waste and litter. It’s so important that these children are learning all about the environmental impacts of flytipping at a young age so they can try and reduce the number of people illegally flytipping. When the public throws their waste and rubbish away illegally, it can cause so many problems which could easily be avoided by using a company that offers Rubbish Collection in London, for example. By contacting a company offering those services, homeowners can get rid of their rubbish in a safe way, ensuring they aren’t disregarding their waste illegally. These children are looking to inform the public about services like that to ensure the environment remains clean.
Year Six Teacher Clare Capper said: “I’m passionate about the environment and have been running some recycling points at the school for some time now. These involve battery and crisp packet recycling points through Terracycle. We are now linking with another local school to recycle waste stationery such as pens.
“Our headteacher and the rest of the staff have a shared vision and together we are working tirelessly with the pupils and teaching them about caring for the environment. This is because we all firmly believe that we should start from an early age – the earlier the better.
“My Eco-Warrior club are working on several initiatives locally such as: litter picking, upcycling rubbish and re-purposing it into something new, recycling and saving energy. I’m very proud of their enthusiasm and determination.”
Leader of Basildon Council Councillor Gavin Callaghan said: “Well done to all the pupils for doing their bit and being a part of our campaign to make our borough a greener, cleaner place to live. This campaign is as much about taking pride in our areas as it is about reducing levels of dumped wasted and littering.”
Chairman of the Neighbourhoods and Public Spaces Committee Councillor David Harrison, added: “It’s wonderful to see these young people getting stuck in and supporting this fantastic campaign.
“We want this campaign to highlight the work our communities do in their own time to keep their areas tidy and for it to inspire others to do the same across the borough. Well done to all involved.”
