Armed with over 10kg of empty crisp packets, on Tuesday we travelled to a crisp packet recycling drop-off point in Croydon in support of the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance.
This initiative was started by myself and Calum Ruth in early 2020 as a joint venture between the climate and charity committees. Having heard the air ambulance was able to use crisp packet recycling as a means of raising money, we were keen for the school to take part given how many crisps we consume on a weekly basis!
It was a whole school effort and by March of this year we had collected over 5kg of empty crisp packets, which we were excited to send to the charity. Unfortunately the pandemic hit and the lockdown meant that the air ambulance had to halt the scheme.
Since our return to school, we continued our efforts to collect crisp packets, particularly in my house – Fayrer. And, recently, I was able to get back in touch with the charity and pick up our plans to take our crisp packet collection (now totalling more than 10kg) to a dedicated drop-off point and finally make our donation.
The Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance is an independent charity providing specialist emergency medical care in the south-east of England. 88% of their income comes from donations and fundraising and as such, every penny (and crisp packet!) really counts. This scheme is run in partnership with TerraCycle who recycle usually ‘non-recyclable’ items, such as crisp packets, and then reward, in credit the charity with TerraCycle Points which are redeemed as a financial donation to the air ambulance.
My thanks especially must go to Ms St. Clair-Ford who helped us get the scheme running last year, and Dr Eliott Lockhart who recently helped arrange the transport, along with the fundraisers from the air ambulance who helped coordinate.
Jason Kitcatt (F), Lower Sixth
