Medway Council tests new beatboxing bins to encourage children to throw away their rubbish

KentOnline / KMTV

This new initiative backed by both Medway Council and Ideas Test, aims to combine tunes and trash to discourage children from littering.  Megan Shaw reports.

Transcript

00:01Thank you for giving me some more litter.

00:04Say hello to Chatham's first bin that's both on the beat and ready to drop the beat,

00:10rewarding diligent litter pickers.

00:12And here is the beatboxing bin. This is how it works. You throw away your litter.

00:20The bin lets you know. It says thank you.

00:23Funded by Arts Council England, the bins are part of an initiative to boost creativity among children

00:29and foster good environmental habits for life.

00:32This project is a project between Midway Council and Ideas Test.

00:37And it's a creative health project. So it's a focus on Luton and Brompton, two specific areas.

00:43Thinking about how creativity can help improve health, either from a physical perspective,

00:48well-being perspective or an environmental perspective.

00:51It started with a consultation with community members about what, particularly for Luton,

00:56what it is that they want to see change. And they articulated that litter was a big thing.

01:00And they also articulated that if we were going to think about creative ways to solve or help litter issues,

01:06that actually a good place to solve is with young people.

01:09The bins 40 different voices among beatboxer Rupert Aldridge include children from local schools,

01:15Luton Primary and Phoenix Primary School.

01:18Getting children excited about the bins through beatboxing sessions played a key role.

01:22The teacher who taught us how to beatbox, we come on most Wednesdays,

01:28more than you, when we beatbox and have some beatboxing patterns.

01:33I love beatboxing first of all, and also it's good for the environment like Martin said,

01:38so we can pick up litter and just help the world.

01:41It's a joint project from Ideas Test and Medway Council,

01:45but are eight singing bins along Luton Road, more trash than treasure,

01:49where Medway already has significant problems on its plate.

01:53People's idea of what art and culture is different for everybody.

01:57It's like not everyone's going to be inspired by going to a theatre or painting or something like that.

02:02But it's all forms of culture. I think music's particularly great at involving lots of people

02:08and obviously that beatbox culture comes out of a culture which isn't privilege and all those kind of things.

02:17So I think it's a great way in really.

02:20And with the bin ready to freestyle, there was only one thing left to do.

02:24Celebrate of course with a beatboxing match,

02:27the only rappers welcome on Luton Road for the foreseeable.

02:32Megan Shaw for KMTV in Chatham.

02:36Please do not pollute the earth.

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