Final stop: Loch Ness!

After enjoying the sights of Aberdeen’s famous Winter Gardens, I packed my trunk and headed off for the final stop of my tour at one of Scotland’s most well-known locations.

I stopped off in Dores, on the banks of Loch Ness, to meet pupils from Aldourie Primary School and Highland Youth Convenor Magnus Morrison.

It was a fantastic way to finish off my tour of Scotland, and we had great weather to enjoy the views across the Loch. I was slightly disappointed that we didn’t catch a glimpse of Nessie, but you never know – I might see him next time I’m there!

People in the Highlands recycled over 35,000 tonnes of waste last year, enough to fill the Caledonian Football Stadium 27 times over! It’s a great achievement, but there’s still much more recycling which can be done in the Highlands and across Scotland.

My tour of Scotland might be over, but don’t forget that it’s important to remember to recycle more and recycle more often! Even if I’m not out and about spreading the word, you can still follow me on Twitter or join my fan page on Facebook.

For more information on recycling near you, visit www.sort-it.org.uk

Next stop: Aberdeen!

It was back up north for me after my visit to Hamilton Park Racecourse as I dropped into the Granite City to spread the word about the importance of remembering to recycle more and recycle more often.

I stopped off at Aberdeen’s Duthie Park to have a look at the famous Winter Gardens. I was met by pupils from Ashley Road Nursery, who were having a fancy-dress day out. I meet fearsome pirates and pretty fairies and we all had a great time!

Last year, local people recycled 802 tonnes of plastics – enough to fill three of the city’s swimming pools! Recycling the waste will save around 1,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions, equivalent to taking more than 300 cars off the road.

I only have one more stop left on my tour of Scotland. Why not follow me on Twitter or join my Facebook fan page to keep up to date on where I’ll be stopping off next?

For more information on recycling in your area, visit www.sort-it.org.uk

Next stop: Hamilton!

After my outing to Perth, I headed back towards the central belt and stopped off in South Lanarkshire for a day at the races – Hamilton Park Racecourse, to be precise.

At the racecourse, I met local girl Sophie McIntosh and we had lots of fun on the track. She kept beating me over the finish line, though!

People in South Lanarkshire benefit from free uplifts of large items of domestic, electrical and garden waste, and have helped the local authority achieve a recycling rate of 37% of all waste last year. The region is already on track to meet a target of 40% this year.

My travels will be over soon, but you can still follow me on Twitter and become one of my growing army of fans on Facebook.

For more information on recycling in your area, visit http://www.sort-it.org.uk

Next stop: Perth!

After shaking the sand out of my trunk, I hit the road again and headed for the town known as “The Fair City” – Perth!

I stopped off outside Perth Concert Hall for a chat with Connell Northcott, Matthew Jackson, Maggie English and Abbie Maclaughlan from St. Ninian’s Episcopal Primary School, who were there with Kim Young, Waste Minimisation Officer from Perth and Kinross Council.

People across the Perth and Kinross region have recycled a total of 5,000 tonnes of paper, cardboard, cans and plastics and a further 4,000 tonnes of glass. It shows that local people are really starting to realise the importance of recycling, and I hope they can continue to do more to recycle household waste.

My travels across the length and breadth of Scotland are still ongoing. I’ll be continuing to post clues about my next visit on Twitter and Facebook – by posting your guess as to where I’ll be next you’ll also enter a prize draw to win a £100 food hamper courtesy of SPAR.

For more information on recycling in your area, visit www.sort-it.org.uk

Next stop: Dundee!

After my bracing visit to the cold of the SNO!Zone in Braehead, it was off to Scotland’s fourth-largest city for me and my trunk.

I dropped in to Dundee for a visit to the Discovery Centre, which is home to the RRS Discovery, the ship which carried Shackleton and Scott on their Antarctic expedition. I had more even more sympathy for the hardships they faced on their South Pole adventure after my day spent freezing on the slopes of SNO!Zone!

Park Place Primary pupils Bethany Docherty, Poppy O’Neill, Caitlin Maclean and Oscar Holm-Huxley met me in front of the ship, along with Dundee City Council’s depute environment services convenor, Councillor Craig Melville.

Over the last four years, Dundee’s recycling rate has increased by almost 10%. The provision of neighbourhood recycling points, along with kerbside recycling facilities and three large recycling centres, has helped the city collect 421 tonnes of paper and glass in the last year – the equivalent weight of over 6 million copies of the Beano!

Of course, there’s still more we can all be doing to recycle more, and recycle more often. For more information on recycling near you, visit www.sort-it.org.uk

My travels around the country are still going on. You can follow me on Twitter or join my fan page on Facebook for clues as to where I’ll be next. If you get the answer right, you’ll join a prize draw to win a £100 food hamper courtesy of SPAR!

Next stop: Ayr!

After contemplating the cold of the Antarctic in Dundee, and experiencing the cold of SNO!Zone, I thought I should stop off somewhere warmer next.

I headed for the seaside and unpacked my trunk at Ayr beach, where thankfully the sun was shining.

I was greeted by Ailsa Page (9), Jennifer Bauld (7), Katie McCartan (6), Zoe Cobbett (11) and Rosie MacKenzie (9) from Dundonald Primary School in Ayr, along with Stratton Macdonald, Group Leader Waste Strategy at South Ayrshire Council.

South Ayrshire is Scotland’s second-highest achiever in recycling, with rates currently standing at 41% of all waste and projected to rise to 70% by 2025.

The Council is also planning to introduce a number of community recycling skips at locations throughout the local area to make it simpler for people to dispose of recyclable heavy items.

My tour throughout Scotland is still going strong, and you can follow me on Twitter and join my fan page on Facebook for clues as to where I’ll be next.

By guessing the location of my next visit, you’ll enter a prize draw for the chance to win a £100 food hamper, courtesy of SPAR!

For more information on recycling in your area, visit www.sort-it.org.uk

Next stop: Braehead!

At the next stop on my journey, I received a warm welcome at a very cold place.

I stopped off at SNO!Zone, an indoor ski slope in Braehead, Renfrewshire, where I met pupils from nearby Arkleston Primary School and a local councillor.

Here I am with Brooke (10), Ryan (10), Kate (6) and Sarah (6), and Councillor Marie McGurk, Convenor of Renfrewshire Council’s Environment and Infrastructure Policy Board. We had a great time playing in the snow!

I’m travelling all over the country to help people remember to recycle more and recycle more often. You can join my fan page on Facebook or follow me on Twitter for regular clues on where you can find me next.

For more information on recycling in your local area, visit www.sort-it.org.uk

Next stop: Edinburgh!

Scotland’s capital city was the next stop in my tour across the country as I unpacked my trunk at the National Galleries of Scotland.

I was joined by five pupils from the city’s Royal Mile Primary School: Mohamed Osman, Sakina Rana, Aji Dado, James Taylor and Dominika Starosta.

In the last five years, people in Edinburgh have started to recycle more and recycle more often. Recycling rates have jumped from 21.62% in 2005/06 to 30.15% last year, and the city is on track to meet a target of 32.35% this year.

Last year, people in the city recycled enough paper to fill 10 Commenwealth swimming pools – 3145 tonnes! – and 2177 tonnes of packaging, or the equivalent of 77 million one-litre milk bottles.

For clues on where my tour of Scotland will take me next, visit my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter

You can find more information on where to recycle near you at www.sort-it.org.uk

Next stop: Hawick!

For my next visit, I stopped off in the Scottish Borders at Mansfield Park, the home ground of Hawick Rugby Football Club.

Hawick Players Keith David, Gary Johnstone and Graham Hogg showed me round the grounds, and I also met Emily Graham, Rachel Goldie and David Chipakupaku from Drumlanrig Primary School and Scottish Borders Council recycling officer Dominic Hodgkiss.

Over the past year, people in the Borders have recycled nearly 3,000 tonnes of glass and over 1,000 tonnes of plastic - enough to fill five-and-a-half Olympic-sized swimming pools!

Recycling all this waste saves over 2,000 tonnes of carbon emissions being released into the atmosphere each year, which is the equivalent of taking more than 700 cars off the road.

That’s a great effort – but there’s still more that can be done in the Borders and across the country to recycle more.

I’m still travelling across the country to spread the word about the importance of recycling more and recycling more often – you can try to guess where I’ll be next by joining my Facebook fan page or following me on Twitter

For more information on where you can recycle close to home, visit www.sort-it.org.uk

Next stop: Dumfries!

For the next stage of my trip across the length and breadth of Scotland to spread the word about the importance of recycling, I stopped off at Palmerston Park in Dumfries, home of Queen of the South FC.

I was greeted by players Jim Thomson and Paul Burns, as well as pupils from Laurieknowe Primary School: Josh Jamieson, Chloe Cain, Abbi Kirk, Aidan Nicol and Calvin Cunningham.

They made me feel very welcome and I was delighted to meet them.

In just five years, Dumfries and Galloway has almost halved the amount of waste sent to landfill, with over 36% of waste recycled and composted last year.

A whopping 767 tonnes of waste electrical items were recycled by people across the region last year, too!

I’ll be stopping off at another sporting location south of the Central Belt for my next visit. This time, though, it won’t be footballers I’ll be meeting…

Can you guess where I'll be next? For more clues, follow me on Twitter or visit my page on Facebook. By guessing correctly, you could be in with a chance of winning a food hamper worth £100!

For more information on how to recycle in your area, visit www.sort-it.org.uk

I’ve packed my trunk to spread the word about recycling

The Scottish Government’s Zero Waste recycling campaign is taking to the streets to help spread the word about the difference you can make.

I’m visiting locations across Scotland to highlight the importance of remembering to recycle. So far, I’ve visited Glasgow and Falkirk and I’ll soon be making my next appearance at a mystery location south of the Central Belt.

You can follow regular clues on Twitter and Facebook to guess where I’ll be next.

My trusty trunk and I made our first appearance at the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow, where I was greeted by pupils from the city’s Cranhill Primary School.

Alichia Hutcheon (12), Michael Ramsay (11), Lauryn Boyle (9) and Kevin Pearson (10) all turned out to welcome me to Scotland’s biggest city.

Over the past year in Glasgow, local people have recycled 14,360 tonnes of paper, 552 tonnes of plastic bottles and 376 tonnes of cans – enough to fill over 30 Olympic-sized swimming pools!

But remember – there’s still more you can do to help Scotland recycle as much as possible.

The next day, I arrived at the Falkirk Wheel, one of Scotland’s most impressive engineering achievements.

Emily Vause (9), Emma Dunnachie (9), Leah Lyon (9), Callum Morton (7) and Cameron Robertson (7) from Falkirk’s Easter Carmuirs Primary School were on hand to make me feel welcome at the Wheel.

Falkirk Council is working hard to help local people to recycle more, with 42% of waste material recycled, compared to the national average of 36%. The Council recycled more than 13,512 tonnes last year.

I’ve packed my trunk and I’m on the way to my next visit – can you guess where I’ll be next time?

For more information on how you can recycle, visit www.sort-it.org.uk