PLANNING is under way for a major recycling event coming to Redditch this autumn.
The Redditch Rethinks Rubbish Expo 2019 aims to challenge local residents and get them thinking about waste.
It’s being driven by Redditch One World Link and follows a shock discovery on the beaches of the borough’s twin town Mtwara in Tanzania.
“They have a massive beach there and were stunned one day to find it absolutely full of washed up rubbish,” said Melanie Vaughan of Redditch One World Link.
“They looked at where it had come from and found it was from all over, including here in the West, but it’s the local people over there that have had to pay to clear it all up.”
A germ of an idea was born and against a background of dwindling natural resources and the urgent need to recycle more, Redditch One World Link – an apolitical group – decided to act.
The result is the Redditch Rethinks rubbish Expo 2019 at the Town Hall on Saturday, October 19.
The venue has been donated free of charge by borough Mayor Councillor Roger Bennett and Dr Alan Dixon, from the Institute of Science and the Environment at the University of Worcester will be the keynote speaker.
Plus there will be a Redditch reclaimed fashion show, speeches by school pupils, market stalls, exhibitors offering tips on recycling and concert performances.
There will also be a photography competition on the topic of sustainability, a recycling challenge, and a direct link via Skype with the Mtwara.
Every school in the borough, local organisations and interested groups are being approached to take part. Sponsors are also needed.
“Our aim is to explore our responsibilities for one world,” said Melanie, a teacher at Birchensale Middle School.
“I’m passionate about this; Redditch can be a little insular but what we do here can have a massive impact on places elsewhere, like in Mtwara.”
To get involved email [email protected] or visit www.facebook.com/ROWLRedditchOneWorldLink .
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