School children have been given the opportunity to become a Glass Guardian – we’ve worked with British Glass and teamed up with the National Schools Partnership to design a new recycling educational programme.
Glass Guardians is for 7-11 year olds and it teaches children about the importance of glass recycling and how it is 100% recyclable which can be re-melted indefinitely and made back into bottles and jars with no loss of quality.
School children are our future and we want them to understand every single glass jar and bottle that’s put into recycling counts. At present, around one third of the bottles and jars we use never get the chance to be made into new glass – often because people don’t recycle.
We want to make sure that every bottle and jar is put back into the system and we hope young people can become Glass Guardians and support that aim by encouraging them to champion the importance of recycling to protect their planet.
Part of the programme includes a competition where children can get creative and come up with ideas for how to get people to recycle more glass. The best ideas will win prizes and children can win an Amazon Fire tablet and £500 worth of equipment vouchers for their schools.
The programme includes tasks for English, Maths, Science, PSHE and Citizenship as well as a take home activity where parents can also get involved by helping children to find out about recycling in their area.
By taking part, schools can also use Glass Guardians towards the Eco School Awards.
If you are a school or teacher and would like to access the resources, you can register and download them from the National Schools Partnership.
If you are a parent, ask your child’s school about Glass Guardians and how you can get involved:
FAQ
Why is it important to recycle?
No matter where we live, we all use and rely on glass, every single day. One of the many advantages of recycling glass is how much energy we can save when making new glass. The more recycled content we use, the less energy we need in the furnace. That is because recycled glass, also called “cullet,” melts at a much lower temperature in the furnace than the raw materials.
What makes glass sustainable?
Made from a combination of natural materials, glass is simple and doesn’t pollute the environment. Jars, bottles and containers can also be recycled infinitely, meaning we need less natural materials and energy to make new glass.
In Europe we have the world’s highest glass recycling rates at 80%, saving already 9 million tonnes of CO2 per year! So if you’ve recycled something recently, you have had an important part of making that happen.
What is glass made of?
Glass is made from ingredients that sourced from nature around us, such as sand, soda ash, and limestone. We also use a lot of recycled glass. This also makes glass a safe choice for our packaging, as these materials don’t interact with our food and drinks. This helps to protect our favourite snacks, and also our health!