Learning the three 'R's

Hull school kids are learning how to reduce, reuse and recycle waste.

He definitely has a green message – in fact he's green all over.
Meet Dalton, Hull City Council's new cartoon character.
He's the face of a new education pack which is being launched in the city's 71 primary schools this month.
The pack is filled with lesson plans and activities to encourage school children to recycle and look after the environment.
It tells the story of how Dalton comes to Earth from his planet Fanburmatastic after receiving a message from school kids who need help with their recycling project at school (see opposite).
Parents and older children might spot the name of one of Hull's household waste and recycling centres in the planet's name. And in case you were wondering where Dalton himself got his name: he was named after the Dalton Street depot where the council's waste management team are based.

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The recycling rate in Hull is increasing every year and stands at just above 20 per cent.
That's because more householders are recycling more waste in their black boxes and blue bins provided by the council.
And more people are also using home composters, reducing the amount of packaging they throw away, and using the council's household waste and recycling centres at Burma Drive, off Marfleet Lane, and Wilmington, near Stoneferry roundabout.
But Hull residents need to make a much greater effort.
The city needs to achieve a recycling rate of 45 per cent by 2010 otherwise the council could be handed heavy fines by the government - for the continued reliance on landfill sites which are harming the environment.
Targeting children is an important way of getting the message across.
"Launching the education pack is one of the biggest steps the council has taken to help ensure our children become considerate, waste-aware citizens," says Jane Carver, recycling and education officer at Hull City Council.
"It's of vital importance that even our youngest children understand how they can play their part."

What's in the pack?

Children are learning to recycle so less waste is sent to landfill sites (below)

Each pack contains 10 worksheets with activity ideas that meet requirements at Key Stages 1 and 2 of the National Curriculum.
These encourage pupils to:

• set up recycling bins for their school.
• design leaflets for parents urging them to use their school's recycling facilities.
• make up poems, songs and TV commercials about recycling.
• learn how to make compost .
• hold a waste-free lunch challenge.

Hi, I'm Dalton...

"I live on the great planet Fanburmatastic. It's a really beautiful place where everybody is helpful, kind and, above all, they are all crazy about recycling!
Where I come from we all care about the environment. We don't drop litter, we make things out of rubbish, we recycle everything we can and we make our own special soil with our home composters.
One day I was in my garden making some new flowers pots out of some old plastic bottles when the floor began to shake. It was an e-mole messenger who popped out of the ground wearing a hard hat. He had a message from another planet which read:
"Please help. We have to do a project at school all about recycling and we don't know where to start. We would be very grateful if you could help us. From Star and Levi, Green Street, Hull, Planet Earth."
I knew I had to go as quickly as possible so I prepared my spaceship "Lunarbin" for launch.
I now live in a shed at the bottom of Star and Levi's garden and I've helped them to make their school greener and cleaner with some fun worksheets that we made."