Bags of Fun at Staines Prep

30 Nov 2012

Staines pupils have launched a new recycling initiative to help others less fortunate overseas – whilst also raising funds for their school.

Children at Staines Preparatory School are working with Bag2School, an organisation that specialises in collecting second-hand clothes and other items in their original condition and exporting them for use in other countries.

Cllr Robert Watts, Cabinet Member for Environment for Spelthorne said “We estimate that in Spelthorne we throw away over 200 tonnes * of textile waste every year. Children need to be educated about the importance of recycling clothes so that it becomes second nature to them and also to future generations. The Bag2School scheme is an excellent way of encouraging children in Spelthorne to recycle their unwanted clothes at the same time as helping people in poorer parts of the world and raising money for their school.”

Sue Rogers, Bursar, said: “We already recycle paper and cardboard, monitor energy and water consumption and conduct litter picks outside of the school. We have incorporated energy saving and recycling ideas into our new multi-functional hall and specialist classroom block and are looking at ways of extending these ideas into our existing buildings.

“We are currently working with our caterers to reduce food waste in line with Surrey’s ‘Love Food’ campaign.”

She continued: “Our ‘nearly new’ uniform shop enables re-use of items in excellent condition in school, with other items being sent to our link schools in Uganda and South Africa. The Bag2School initiative is a great way of expanding our clothing recycling operations to benefit others”.

Photo: (L to R) Mary Robinson (SPS Governor), Mila Birtley (age 11), Max Lovegrove (age 10), Hazelle Mendel-Idowu (age 10), Shyam Patel (age 10), Firas Khalil (age 10) and Jane Lowe Project Support Office, Sustainability & Leisure at Spelthorne Borough Council. All amongst a mountain of donated items collected via the Bag2School initiative.