Pester power pushes parents to recycle

A London-wide study of school children's views has shown they profess to be keen recycler who put their parents to shame.


Almost three quarters of the 11-18 year olds quizzed by Recycle for London said they thought their parents should recycle more and alarmingly only half said their family always recycles.

According to the young people, mums are far more likely to recycle the most in any household (69%) while dads are lagging behind (23%)

Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, said: “These findings give us hope for the future but show that we have a lot more to do right now.

“Residents in every London borough can recycle all sorts of materials such as glass, paper and cans including glass sauce jars, pet food tins and junk mail, households can recycle more than they think.”

When asked what they would say to other families in London to encourage them to recycle, more than half the young people said they would explain that it was easier than people think and six out of ten would urge their neighbours to recycle more by making them aware that recycled rubbish can be used to make new products.

Nine year old Sorrel de Paula Hanika, a pupil at Ridgeway Primary School, Croydon said “My Mum and Dad are quite good about splitting things out to be recycled, like paper, cans and bottles, but then they keep forgetting to put it out for collection – and it’s really easy, all we have to do is put it outside the house and it gets picked up.”

Information on recycling in the capital is easily accessible by texting RECYCLE plus a full London postcode to 63131, calling the city-wide information line on 0845 3313131 or visiting the Recycle for London website here.

By Sam Bond

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