Pupils urged to recycle and raise funds for their school

More Royal Borough schools are being encouraged to boost their recycling efforts and raise funds for their school at the same time by signing up to an innovative charity recycling project.

Twelve borough schools have already registered for the scheme - run in conjunction with TRAID (Textile Recycling for Aid and International Development) - to install a free charity textile bank to encourage pupils and staff to increase their recycling habit.

Schools joining the scheme will receive:

• 30 pence per kilogram (£300 per tonne) of clothes and pairs of shoes collected
• accreditation towards 'Eco-schools' status
• updates the amount of textiles the school has diverted from landfill and the carbon dioxide saved
• free laptop, camcorder or workshop for their school
• access to TRAID's educational resources including workshops and assemblies
• marketing materials to raise awareness of textile recycling.

Cllr Phill Bicknell, Cabinet Member for Public Protection, said: "With over 1.2 million tonnes of clothing sent to UK landfills every year, we all need to do our bit to recycle.

"It is really good to get children thinking about recycling to help develop good lifetime habits - which is why these textile recycling banks in schools are such a good idea.

"It's astounding to think that clothes degrade and release methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. You can reduce your fashion carbon footprint by reusing and recycling any unwanted clothes and shoes.

"But even before considering recycling, why not see if they can be reused. Old clothes can be donated to family and friends or made into other textile items such as cushion covers or tea cosies!"

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