New babbling bins set to be talk of NI city

The next time you put a piece of litter into a bin in Lisburn you could well get a talking to.
Media student Mollie Richardson whose designs appear on the babbling bins with Nicola Fitzsimons, Live Here Love Here, Tracey Connolly, LCCC, Natasha Lloyd, SERC,  Grace Lundy, Translink, and Terence Brannigan, SERC and Mark Glover, TranslinkMedia student Mollie Richardson whose designs appear on the babbling bins with Nicola Fitzsimons, Live Here Love Here, Tracey Connolly, LCCC, Natasha Lloyd, SERC,  Grace Lundy, Translink, and Terence Brannigan, SERC and Mark Glover, Translink
Media student Mollie Richardson whose designs appear on the babbling bins with Nicola Fitzsimons, Live Here Love Here, Tracey Connolly, LCCC, Natasha Lloyd, SERC, Grace Lundy, Translink, and Terence Brannigan, SERC and Mark Glover, Translink

The new ‘babbling bins’, which will be located at South Eastern Regional College’s Lisburn campus and the bus and train stations in the city, will thank members of the public for disposing of their rubbish responsibly.

The talking trash cans were designed by SERC’s Eco Committee after securing a £3,000 grant through the Live Here Love Here Small Grants Scheme run by environmental charity Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful.

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SERC’s Lizzie Buick said: “The Eco Committee was keen to encourage the community in SERC and beyond to dispose of litter correctly and to recycle when possible.

“Their new suite of receptacles includes recycling bins and five babbling bins fitted with sensors that trigger recorded messages when rubbish is disposed in them such as, ‘Can it for a better planet’ and ‘give a hoot, don’t pollute’.

She added: “The grant supported a collegewide awareness of tackling waste thorough a competition for staff and students to come up with messages – kindly recorded by performing arts students – and eight students created artwork which will be displayed in panels fixed to the standard recycling bins including Eco Committee Green Champion, Mollie Richardson, a Level 3 Media student.”

Nicola Fitzsimons from Live Here Love Here said: “It was great to see the innovative project come to life through funding provided by the Small Grants Scheme and creative work of the students.

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“It will be exciting to see the babbling bins in public spaces where people can hear the bins speak by correctly disposing of their litter.”

The scheme aims to financially support community-based environmental projects across Northern Ireland that help to develop and maintain a cleaner, greener and safer place to live.

In Lisburn it is supported by Lisburn City and Castlereagh Council and Northern Ireland Housing Executive.

A group of electrical engineering students at SERC are hoping to develop the project and are looking into adapting standard recycling bins to incorporate recycling messages.

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South Eastern Regional College provides high quality and innovative services to almost 33,000 learners utilising our 1,000 experienced staff and specialist facilities.

Live Here Love Here is a Northern Ireland wide programme funded through 10 councils, Northern Ireland Housing Executive, DAERA and McAdam. The programme encourages community action to make neighbourhoods cleaner and greener, by instilling civic pride and improving the quality of greenspaces for everyone.

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