20th February 2008

Che Fu Raps It Up For Glass Recycling

“An empty glass bottle…Pick it up, PICK IT UP
Round your house round your home… Pick it up, PICK IT UP
On your way at school…Pick it up, PICK IT UP
Recycle. What?...RECYCLE
We like to keep it real green round here, ROUND HERE
We like to keep it real clean round here.. ROUND HERE”

The Glass Packaging Forum has hooked up with Kiwi music maker Che-Fu to endorse “recycling” at school and in the community via music within a competition.

The next generation of rap artists has a chance to win a package of prizes which includes recording their lyrics with Che Fu in an Auckland recording studio.

The competition is aimed at 9 to 15 year olds and asks them to put their thoughts on glass recycling to Che Fu’s music. The beat and Che Fu’s chorus can be downloaded from:- http://www.glassforum.org.nz/classrap.html

David Carter, Chair of the Glass Packaging Forum said that the initiative came about from talking to children about how to raise awareness of recycling:

“One of the children involved in the launch of the mobile glass crusher suggested finding a name for the crusher would make a great school competition to get kids thinking about glass recycling. At the same time Che Fu was looking for a way to use the power of music to get young people considering their own role in keeping our environment clean and green. It’s a great partnership because with the best will in the world, industry isn’t able to make recycling hip – but musicians and artists can. We need ambassadors that kids and their parents will recognize. Che Fu will promote Class Rap at gigs around the country.”

Every school will receive a poster with their copy of the Education Gazette with details of the competition. The competition is simple by design. Students download the beat and Che Fu’s lyrics and then “Rap The Gaps” with their own words. It is “music by numbers”. The lyrics need to include a name for the mobile glass crusher, why glass recycling is important and what the crushed glass could be used for in their own community.

There will be two prizes – $1000 each for the winning South Island and North Island schools. In addition the winning students will get the day of a lifetime at an Auckland studio with Che Fu recording their music. As part of the education process, winning students will be given information on how to copyright their own lyrics.

The competition is open until 18th April. Winning entries will be announced to coincide with World Environment Day on 5th June which will be hosted this year in Wellington.

For information:-

53% of glass consumed in New Zealand is now being recycled either into new glass containers in New Zealand or off shore; or for increasing use in building or construction projects typically close to where the glass is recovered. The amount of glass recycled last year is the equivalent of diverting 314 m glass containers from landfill. There are plenty of uses for the crushed glass such as in the base course for roads, agricultural mulch; water filtration; concrete; tiles; erosion protection and even golf bunkers.

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