Families and schools are playing a growing role in Fiji’s Return & Earn programme, with more children collecting bottles and cans while learning the importance of protecting the environment.

Across the country, parents are encouraging their children to collect recyclable containers during family outings, church gatherings and community activities, while schools are also embracing the initiative to raise funds for educational needs.

Return & Earn Fiji Representative Dwain Qalovaki highlighted that recycling is becoming part of everyday family life.

“We’re even seeing families that are coming up to the Return and Earn centres and lining up with their bottles and the parents are saying, our children take a sack to church, they take a sack when we go to our family’s house, we walk there, walk back and the children are picking up bottles because they know that’s their spending money. So, it’s creating momentum” Qalovaki highlighted.

The initiative is also gaining momentum in schools, with municipal councils working closely with students and teachers through the Clean Schools Programme.

He said the programme is helping schools while encouraging children to develop lifelong recycling habits.

“The Clean Schools Programme is one where students bring in their beverage containers and they either pool it into the school’s funds to be able to help with things like stationery and books for the kids or it becomes part of a return programme directly to the children and their families where they earn for each of the beverage containers that they bring in” he said.

BY: JOELI RAGONELIWA