Schoolchildren lead the way on recycling efforts
Brecon Carreg and the Principality Cardiff Half Marathon have enlisted schoolchildren from Caerphilly in a bid to encourage recycling at this year’s event on 1 October.
Brecon Carreg – the event’s official water supplier and a partner in Run 4 Wales’ Climate Action Group – recently headed to Rhydri Primary School for a special arts and crafts session, teaching children about the importance of recycling and creating junk art with old bottles. And all the artwork will be displayed at this year’s event.
The children also produced some fantastic posters to encourage runners and spectators to do their bit and recycle. In fact, the posters were put to an online vote and the most popular will be displayed on the recycling bins around the course.
Brecon Carreg’s Brand Manager Eleri Morgan said:
“As a company that has a commitment to reducing its environmental impact and to becoming net zero, we are always looking at innovative ways to work with our customers and consumers towards being zero-litter. And we absolutely loved meeting the children at Rhydri Primary School.
“To see children – an army of fantastic eco-warriors – with such a keen sense of responsibility is really heartening and we were really impressed with the artwork they produced.”
The schoolchildren were also filmed delivering their recycling messages to participants. One child was filmed, saying:
“Hey you! Recycle your plastic bottles or else we’ll call the police on you. Recycle or I’ll call the cops on you.”
So you have been warned…
Brecon Carreg’s bottles are 100% recyclable while 30% recycled content is used across the entire Brecon Carreg range. But the company’s goal is to increase this to 100% recycled content.
Meanwhile, the Cardiff Half Marathon can already boast a 90% recycling rate, but organisers are keen to step this up to 100%.
Run 4 Wales Head of Sustainability, Gareth Ludkin says:
“We are looking forward to our biggest event yet which will mark our 20th anniversary. Staging an event on such a scale, with 27,500 runners and thousands of spectators lining the route, means that we need everyone to have a collective responsibility to recycling and we’re sure that the brilliant artwork from Rhydri Primary School will help remind everyone.”
In January, Run 4 Wales announced more than £17,000 in donations for projects which support nature conservation, carbon reduction and climate adaption through partnerships with sustainability charities and a new Climate Action Fund initiative.
The fund has been generated through a series of Run 4 Wales’ events in 2022 – with contributions from event organisers, participants and event partners, with an aim to balance the impact that hosting major events has on the environment.
Check out some of the recycling posters created by children! Some will feature on bins at the event:
Stay tuned on our social media channels for adorable short videos from the children of Rhydri Primary School encouraging runners at this year’s race to recycle!
