London kids want their parents to recycle more
25 July 2006
A staggering 90% of school children from south and west London think their parents could do more to reduce and recycle their rubbish at home, according to survey results published this week.
The results also reveal that almost half of households think the kids are 'greener' than the parents.
The survey was part of Recycle Western Riverside's (RWR) 'Test the grown ups' competition that aimed to stimulate family discussion around recycling and get households thinking about what they can do to reduce the amount of rubbish they produce.
Twelve schools across Wandsworth, Hammersmith and Fulham and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea took part in the competition. Children aged between seven and sixteen quizzed their parents to find out how green they really are. The competition also included survey questions to gauge each family's perception of recycling and green issues in the household.
Damien Morris, RWR education officer, said: "The 'Test the grown ups' competition has thrown up some surprising results. Most kids believe their parents could do more to reduce the rubbish they send to landfill and in the majority of households this is the case. Currently around a fifth of rubbish is recycled in the boroughs that took part and as about half the contents of the average household bin can be recycled, there is a lot more that can be done."
He added: "We're hoping that the competition will have a real impact on householders' bins as almost 80% of participants say that as a result of taking part in the competition they have learned their lesson and will now recycle more."
The 'Test the grown ups' competition is just part of RWR's education programme. RWR provide a structured support programme for primary and secondary schools that aims to reduce waste, increase recycling and encourage schools to buy recycled products.