Bangor students tackle waste problems

For the third year running an end of term campaign to reduce waste problems in Bangor has been carried out by the University and Gwynedd Council.

The “Pirates go ARRR (Always Reduce Reuse Recycle) campaign, where partners worked together to tackle the annual problem of end of term waste of rubbish spilling on to the street and other public places was developed and led by the University’s Marketing Society . The student led campaign used a humorous and light hearted pirate theme to raise awareness of the need to dispose of rubbish and recycling responsibly.

Along with the Student’s marketing campaign, Gwynedd Council’s Waste Collection Teams were on hand to remove additional waste from areas predominantly occupied by students.

Rich Gorman, Bangor Students’ Union said:

“The Pirates campaign has been a fantastic way to end another year of our students’ work in the community; a year in which Bangor Students’ Union received a national award for community engagement. This year, once again, the University’s marketing students took the lead in the campaign, and their willingness to take an active role in these initiatives again highlights their commitment and enthusiasm to preserve Bangor as a beautiful and friendly place to live.”

Gwenan Hine, Assistant Registrar at Bangor University, who leads the Bangor Pride University and Student’s Group, added:

“It's great to see the University, the Students Union and Gwynedd Council continuing to build on the successes of previous campaigns and working together again to keep Bangor's streets clean and tidy.”

The students themselves commented that  “working on the Pirates campaign was a valuable experience and gave us a real marketing challenge. We were given the opportunity to develop our own ideas on how to create awareness about the end of term recycling and waste collections, and decided to use social networking, e-mail marketing, screensaver advertising and a student photo competition to create a buzz around a fun concept. It was also great to work in collaboration with Bangor Pride, Gwynedd Council and the Students Union on an important community and environmental marketing project.”

Peter Simpson, Gwynedd Council’s Streetscene Manager said: “For the third year running, Bangor Pride has demonstrated how close partnership working can help to make a big difference in the City.

“The Students should be commended for running their own very innovative end of term waste and recycling campaign. This was closely co-ordinated with Gwynedd Council’s waste collection rounds, which together ensured that end of term waste was placed out at the right time and quickly removed.

Publication date: 12 July 2012