Creating the next generation of recycling heroes

Recycle Week is back for its 21st year and we’ve taken an innovative approach to educate the next generation about the importance of recycling through the power of play. 

We’re delighted to have been closely involved in developing the theme this year - ‘Rescue Me, Recycle’ - all about rescuing commonly binned recyclable items from the rubbish. With the stars of this campaign being 5 new recyclable characters, we came up with ‘Workshop in a Box’ as an innovative way to introduce our characters to primary school children and enable them to speak up at home about key items that should be recycled.

What's in the box?

The Rescue Me Game

A brand new 6-player recycling board game designed by us (and tested with a group of 11 year olds). Each box contains 5 games so the whole class can get involved - complete with dice, a pack of specially-made cards and counters to play as our recyclable characters. 

The aim of the game is to get to recycling heaven (and not end up in the bin!). Choosing from the pack of cards determines your fate - you can be sent forwards or backwards on the board based on real things that can happen on the journey to being recycled. 

At the start of the game, players also receive a fact sheet about their character to learn from, and answering questions correctly in the course of the game rewards them with extra turns. They can gain even more turns by winning tasks, judged by the Games Leader.

Rescue Log & Sticker Sheet

This take-home element of the box ensures the learning doesn’t stop at school and gets adults involved too. Children are encouraged (with an adult) to hunt for our 5 recyclable characters around their home and stick a ‘Rescue Me’ sticker on them - reminding everyone to not throw them in the rubbish.

They can then track their rescues on the Rescue Log.

What behavioural tools lie behind the fun?

• Personification: Bringing everyday objects to life by personifying them with unique and distinct personalities means we’re more likely to engage with them.
• Affect: By using emotive and humorous stories for our characters - their dreams of being recycled and fears of being thrown away - we can help children create a connection and care about what happens to them
• Gamification: By gamifying the learning experience, we encourage participation, engagement, and increase the likelihood of retaining information. We also turned something that could have been dull into a fun learning experience for children.
• Visual prompts: The ‘rescue me’ stickers act as visual prompts at the point of throwing items in the rubbish, reminding people that they should be recycled instead 
• Goal-setting: The rescue log allows children to track how many items they’ve rescued from the rubbish, encouraging them to grow their score.
• Pester power: The box enables children to become recycling heroes and feel confident speaking up about recycling at home (reminding adults that Yogi, Dee Dee, Rey, Fitz and Hube should NOT be thrown in the rubbish!). 

If you’d like a Workshop in a Box of your own, you can find a downloadable and printable version here: https://www.recyclenow.com/rescue-me-board-game 

Our team are experts in designing innovative interventions and bringing them to life. If you’ve got a behavioural challenge that requires a creative solution, get in touch.