Cubs and Scouts Go Litter Picking

Working towards their World Challenge Award and Environmental Conservation Activity badge the young people took part in a litter pick in the dark. We met at the school to distribute the equipment (litter pickers and rings that held the rubbish bags open) which we had on loan from the council for the session. We made are way on to the name road wearing high-vis jackets keeping safety in mind.

The aim was to clean the grass verges and hedges along the main road outside the school to make it a nicer walk for the students, teachers and other pedestrians, there was a range of rubbish from bottles and cans to sweet wrappers and paper.

We concluded with a spot of recycling, everyone had been asked, during the few days before, to collect 2 or 3 items of rubbish that could be recycled. We stopped at the recycle bins learning what each bin could recycle before doing our individual recycling. It is hoped over the summer that a visit to the recycling centre can be arranged to see what happens to it all next.

This was the second week Cubs had been learning all about environmental conservation. The previous week they had been finding out how to reduce the energy and water that they use in your home and finding out about one type of renewable energy.

A game of ‘guess the gadget’ taught all the Cubs valuable lessons about how they can save water in and around the house. Gadgets were all kindly provided by Northumbrian Water with enough provided to enable each Cub to take a gadget home with them.

The Cubs all shared how long they stay in the shower with the lengths varying from five minutes to as long as twenty-five minutes, through use of a basic five-minute sand timer that stick to the shower all with a suction cup it is easier and more obvious how long you have been in the shower; spending just one minute less in the shower could save as much as £30 per person on an average utility bill.

We chatted about how much water could be wasted by leaving the tap running e.g. when washing dishes, how using a plug may save around twelve litres of water every day. And simply turning the tap off when brushing teeth can save water too on a twice daily basis.
Another gadget was a save-a-flush that is placed in the toilet cistern between the ball float and the front panel to prevent as much water being used when flushing and saving one litre every flush.

The final gadget was for the gardeners with a water stick which when pushed into the root of any potted plant indicates whether or not the plan has enough moisture, as the soil dries out the waterstick changes colour from blue to red signally that the plant needs watering.

Making something linked with a renewable source of energy was the next challenge. The Cubs worked in teams to make wind turbine using plastic bottles and paper cups. They were all given the instructions and the equipment to make a wind turbine and left to it.