FOLLOWING in the footsteps of climate activist Greta Thunberg, Somerset school children are taking action on climate change.

Collecting the community's "hard-to-recycle" waste, Shipham First School on the western edge of the Mendip Hills, is hoping to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill.

Taking in trash that will be sent on to recycling company TerraCycle, they are asking people from Shipham, Rowberrow and Star parishes to drop off everything from toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes, Marigold gloves, biscuit and snack wrappers, home and laundry care products and packaging, and writing instruments. None of this waste can be included in local kerbside recycling collections so traditionally has ended up in landfill or been incinerated.

It was local resident Julie Leader who initially signed up to the programme, setting up the public drop off location at the school on Turnpike Road. It will not only help to protect the environment but also raises funds for the school at the same time.

Julie said: “I was looking for a way to reduce the amount of waste packaging the community produces, and about three years ago I found these great free programmes run by TerraCycle to recycle a whole host of waste which the local council recycling collections can’t accept.

"Anyone can sign up and collect waste at home for recycling. I decided to go one step further by setting up a public access drop off location at Shipham First School, where anyone can drop off their hard to recycle rubbish”

The collected waste passed on to TerraCycle is recycled by shredding, cleaning and turning it into a pellet format which can then be used by manufacturers to create new generic plastic products such as outdoor furniture, lumber and construction applications, reducing the need to extract new resources from the planet.

As well as benefitting the environment, this programme also helps raise funds for the school’s Green Club. For each unit of waste collected, Shipham First School receives TerraCycle points that can be redeemed as a monetary donation. The cash will be used provide more equipment for the Green Club to buy litter pickers and more bins.

“So far the community has helped us to send in more than 8,000 pieces of waste to TerraCycle for recycling, raising over £30 for the school, " Julie says.

"This initiative is a great way to help both the environment and the local charity. So we encourage everyone in Shipham to drop off their waste for recycling to our public drop off location which is open 24 hours a day and to help us spread awareness locally by telling their friends, families and colleagues.”

For more information about TerraCycle, or to get involved and help Shipham First School with their recycling efforts, visit www.terracycle.com/en-GB.