Chiho Sharp
Founder of Hands On 6Rs

I have been working closely with local schools and families with school children since 2013 when I started an OFSTED registered after-school club. I noticed two major problems. One is the lack of flexible part-time jobs. The other is the amount of plastic and resource wasted in educational settings. There is a huge gap between environmental policies and actual practice at schools, companies and homes. The core of the problem is the lack of hands-on education and practice to teach children how to be sustainable. My vision is to create a space for young people aged 8-18 to gain life skills/life hacks in bite sizes in a welcoming environment. There is a huge gap between the concept of sustainability and the actual practice at home, schools, and businesses. We all know it in our heads, but do not practise it enough. This is because there is a lack of opportunities for young people to grow into a 6Rs mindset and have hands-on practice to gain skills. My solution is to offer a series of workshops to raise awareness of re-think, refuse and reduce before buying and to teach how to repair, reuse and recycle before throwing out. 6Rs App is a platform to introduce other businesses and organisations that are proactive in the circular economy.