The portrait of a collector section shines a light on the TerraCycle collectors that want to talk about their initiative, the charity they collect for and share some advise and tips for other TerraCycle collectors. Louisa Cooper, who collects for the Waunarlwydd Primary School, in Swansea, Wales, helps raise money for the school to buy new outside equipment. We had a chat with her and she agreed to answer our questions about her collection.
When did you start collecting with TerraCycle and which programmes are you involved in?
I started collecting with TerraCycle in 2011 after my daughter was born and started the baby wipe scheme – which does not exist anymore. I’m involved in the Tassimo & L’OR recycling programme, the Personal Care and Beauty Recycling Programme, The Cracker and Biscuit wrapper, the Air and Home Care recycling programme and the EllaCycle programme to recycle food pouches.
How much waste have you collected so far?
So far, I have collected about 111,000 units of Tassimo TDISCs and L’OR capsules, close to 35 000 cracker and biscuit wrappers and more than 7000 food pouches. In total, I have collected almost 162,000 items of waste!
Which charity are you collecting for? Which project(s) will the money go towards?
The money will go towards my children’s school, Waunarlwydd Primary School, in Swansea, Wales, and towards our Parents Teacher Association (PTA) to buy extra outside equipment.
Any tips that you could share to collect more waste?
The main thing is to communicate widely! Social networks are very helpful to raise awareness around our collections and get more people involved. It is also important to explain what we are doing to people face to face.
Children can also be great ambassadors, if you collect in a school! For example, my children are very involved in the programmes and they remind their friends that they can recycle their food pouches, pens and biscuit wrappers with TerraCycle. They also have an eco-club at the school, every Wednesday, to raise awareness, where they learn how to recycle and reuse!
City, address and opening times of the public drop off location
Coop Gowerton in Swansea from 7am-11pm for Tassimo pallet.
24/7 Waunarlwydd Community Centre in Swansea for Tassimo and all else (drop to the side of the centre).
Follow Louisa on social media:
Facebook: Waunarlwydd Primary School Recycle
Twitter: @recyclingswans
Instagram: @recyclingtassimos
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Do you want your collecting to gain visibility? Would you like to talk about it and share your experience and tips? To be featured in our “portrait of a Collector” section, you can write to us at customersupport@terracycle.co.uk.