Author inspires children to think about waste

A new book encouraging young children to think twice about waste has been published thanks to a Hampshire County Council Waste Prevention Grant.

The Rubbish Monster Thing has been written and illustrated by Hampshire author Simon Chadwick to encourage infant-school-aged children to think about their waste before it reaches the rubbish bin.

Hampshire County Council’s Executive Member for Environment and Transport, Councillor Rob Humby, said: “With the cost of dealing with all of the County’s waste now regularly topping the £100 million a year mark, we created a new Waste Prevention Grant to help local people kick start or expand projects which encourage people to think about reducing the rubbish we all create at home. This book is a really inspiring way to show children that it’s not only plastic waste that we can reduce at home but it’s about the small choices we make in our day to day lives.”

The Rubbish Monster Thing, aimed at children aged between 4 and 7, is available from Hampshire libraries and copies have been sent to county infant and primary schools.

Simon Chadwick was amongst 15 grant recipients this year who successfully applied for grants of up to £5000 each to help encourage others to reduce waste. Other projects included repair cafes, cooking classes and reusable plastic alternatives.