Back in 2002, when we launched our kerbside recycling service in Wrexham, we knew we needed to get our residents up to speed on how it all worked quickly. So, we enlisted the help of a fresh-faced, blonde haired teen wearing a backward facing baseball cap to spread the word for us.
Michael, of ‘Recycle with Michael’-fame first hit our leaflets, posters, bin wagons and fridge magnets (remember those?) twenty years ago. Doesn’t time fly!
As we celebrate the 20-year anniversary of having a kerbside recycling service in Wrexham, we thought it might be a good time to give you a bit of a reminder how Michael helped us all to learn about recycling.
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Michael in 2002
Initially, Michael was keen to show off the green and pink recycling sacks we provided you with to recycle your household items. In your pink sack, you could recycle plastic bottles as well as cans and tins, and in your green sack, you could recycle papers including newspapers, magazines and directories.
As we expanded our kerbside recycling service to include more items you could recycle, such as glass, Michael helped us swap out the original pink and green sacks so that residents would have a green box and new green sack to put their recycling in moving forwards.
Householders with gardens were given a green bin, in which they could recycle their garden waste. Michael also let our residents know they could compost their garden waste if they preferred, with home composters being available at cost price by calling our Recycling Helpline.
Michael set out a number of handy tips for us too, some of which are still relevant today, such as:
• REMOVE caps from plastic bottles
• RINSE cans/tins
• FLATTEN materials where possible to save space
• DO NOT include kitchen waste, plastic bags, soil, stones, bricks, timber or other garden debris in the your green bin
• TRY to reduce waste in the first place by using real nappies and buying goods with less packaging
Michael definitely played a big part in educating people about recycling in those early years, and he’s helped us to get to the point where we can say that most of our residents now take part in the recycling scheme.
But the BIG question remains…what’s Michael up to these days?
Michael in 2022
Is he still in Wrexham? Did he emigrate? Look out for our Recycle with Michael posts on our social media pages and leave a comment with your thoughts on what Michael might be doing in the current year.
We’d also love for you to tell us if you still have your vintage Recycle with Michael fridge magnet 🙂
To learn more about the recycling service in Wrexham, please visit wrexham.gov.uk/recycling
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