Here at the Ironworks, we are pretty serious about doing our bit to help protect the beautiful planet that we live in – whether that’s through reducing waste, cutting out plastic or creating art to promote the protection of our environment. We love to get the community involved in everything that we do, and our environmental efforts are certainly no exception. As proved on a global scale, we believe that the next generation are at the forefront of ecological protection which is why getting schools involved in our environmental projects is so important to us.

As part of our School Partnership Programme, we run a number of recycling projects every year for schools all over the country. Following the success of the ‘Bottle Top Recycling Project’ and the HUGE number of schools who stepped forward to join in on it, we created and developed a new project for all of our visiting schools to participate in. Meet ‘Flipper’ the dolphin – a life-size, interactive metal dolphin sculpture designed to be filled with soft plastic confectionary wrappers by visiting schools and young people throughout the community.

Every year, 8 million metric tons of plastic ends up in our ocean. Not only does this plastic debris harm and kill fish, marine mammals and seabirds, it also pollutes the human food chain. Whilst recycling and beach clean-up initiatives are important, the most effective changes come through education. ‘Flipper’ the dolphin not only encourages recycling and the reduction of plastic consumption, but also acts as a visual protest against the plastic industry. The sculpture is designed to raise awareness, to encourage children to look into alternatives to plastics, and to educate young people about the harm that plastics cause to marine life and how it eventually affects us all.

‘Flipper’ can now be seen here at the Centre, ready to be filled with your soft plastic confectionary wrappers. We are encouraging all of our visiting schools and young people to collect and bring in their wrappers to help fill the sculpture. Once a significant number have been collected, we will use them to create something innovative and useful for the community. Any and all ideas are welcome!