Talking bins donated to eco-friendly Hamilton primary schools

Jul 21 2011 by Leona Greenan, Hamilton Advertiser

TALKING bins have been donated to three South Lanarkshire schools in a bid to encourage pupils to become more litter aware and take pride in their surroundings.

The fun bins, which come in the form of animals and birds, thank pupils for 'feeding' them, and have been donated by Jack Glen, who is the franchise owner of McDonalds in Hamilton.

A launch event was held at Neilsland Primary School, which gave the schools attending an opportunity to promote their work in protecting their environment and to demonstrate how young people are playing their part in keeping their local area tidy.

The three schools chosen to receive these state of the art bins, due to their excellent track record in environmental studies were Neilsland Primary School, St Paul's Primary School and Woodlands Nursery Centre.

Councillor Mary Smith, chairwoman of South Lanarkshire Council's education resources committee, expressed her thanks and said: “This partnership arrangement has helped young people in schools throughout South Lanarkshire to take pride in their environment.

“Keeping our school grounds tidy and recognising the contribution that children and families can make to improving their local community is vitally important and this initiative goes some way towards this. I know that pupils love the bins and they really do encourage children to become more litter aware.”

Jack Glen said: “This is the eighth year our staff and customers have raised funds to donate talking bins to local schools. It's part of our ongoing programme to educate pupils, and the community at large, about disposing of litter properly.

“We select schools which run their own eco projects as it's important to reinforce the message to children from an early age that litter dropping is unacceptable. Hamilton is a beautiful town and by donating 33 talking bins so far we hope to play a part in helping it stay that way.”