Southern provide passenger train services between central London and the South Coast, through East and West Sussex, Surrey and parts of Kent and Hampshire. The company manages 158 stations and operates a fleet of 300 trains.
The Children’s S.C.R.AP. Project
The Children’s S.C.R.A.P. Project collects waste from businesses for free, eliminating waste sent to landfill. The materials are stored in their warehouse for distribution to schools and playgroups for use in learning and play.
The London 2012 Olympics was dubbed the ‘Public Transport Games’. Olympic ‘One Team’ Transport Guides were produced to provide detailed information to passengers travelling during the Games. The Transport Guides were issued to Southern staff along with special Olympic Tabards so passengers could easily identify the ‘One Team’ members. Once the Games were over Southern had 288 Transport Guides left, along with 527 tabards.
NISP first met with Southern representatives at Sustainability Live 2012 and informed them of how the programme can help identify novel reuse options for redundant materials. Following the Games Southern approached NISP for assistance in identifying a method of reusing the transport guides and tabards rather than simply disposing of them. NISP put Southern in touch with the Children’s S.C.R.A.P. Project in London, who could collect and distribute the guides and tabards for reuse.
The Children’s S.C.R.A.P. Project saw an opportunity to use the items in an educational setting and agreed to collect them. The tabards are likely to be used as painting overalls in nurseries and schools, whist the handbooks will make excellent learning aids, providing an insight into the London 2012 Olympic Games.
• Reuse solution found for 527 Olympic Magenta Tabards and 288 Olympic ‘One Team’ Transport Insider Guides
• Reduction in the amount of virgin resources used to produce educational materials
• Reductions in the amount of CO2 produced through the manufacture of educational materials