Schools Program
Gumdrop is currently partnering The Bewdley School and Sixth Form Centre in Worcestershire in a pilot scheme where students are involved in managing the implementation of a Gumdrop Bin project at their school and then further rolling this out to the local community with the local Council, Wyre Forest District Council (WFDC).
The Bewdley School is also using the Gumdrop Bin project as a springboard for a whole school environmental project.
A group of students from the student forum presented to their peers, decided upon the best locations for bins around the school campus and then engaged in data collection and analysis of gum littering before and after the installation of the bins. Cleaning of data collection areas was supported by Wyre Forest District Council (WFDC).
The project has been a great success at the school, with all students making use of the bins and zero gum litter has been recorded in the data collection areas since the Gumdrop Bins were installed.
The students have recently pitched a launch campaign to a group of staff from WFDC comprising portfolio holders, senior managers and enforcement officers amongst others. The presentation was very well received and WFDC are now keen to roll out the installation of Gumdrop Bins in public places within the district.
The key objectives of the Gumdrop Bin Schools Programme are:
• To assist schools in improving the environment around the school and in reducing cleaning costs
• To engender a more responsible attitude towards the management of litter of all types
• To give students the opportunity for involvement in a real-life project from pitching through implementation and review both at school and with local authorities
• To drive behavioural change, both in schools and the communities around them
When the pilot scheme has been reviewed and refined, Gumdrop is aiming to roll out the programme nationally.
Mr Hadley-Price – Headmaster at The Bewdley School and Sixth Form Centre
“We clearly have a global crisis with human management of waste; one only has to watch or read about ‘plastic oceans’ to understand this. We therefore feel at The Bewdley School that a critical part of education is to teach coming generations of the importance of responsible resource management through reuse and recycle. We have found Gumdrop and their processes an excellent launch point for this work, as superbly designed example of closed-loop recycling, in which all ‘waste products’ can be re-used to produce secondary goods. This is being used to launch our whole school recycling strategy and is also proving invaluable in developing a wide range of business skills within our Youth Forum, who are driving the project on behalf of the school.”
Sarah Davis – Place Coordinator at Wyre Forest District Council
‘Wyre Forest are always keen to work with local businesses and schools on recycling projects such as Gumdrop which helps keep the place safe, clean and looking good. Recycling is a massive global issue that needs to be tackled and have closed loop recycling companies working proactively with schools and local authorities is beneficial to all involved.’