Tamworth Regional Council introduces Sonny the Sustainable Scout

Sonny the Sustainable Scout made his first public appearance at Tamworth Public School on Tuesday, much to the delight of students.

Sonny works with his sidekick Skye the magpie and uses some funky dance moves to promote sustainable practices. His hobbies include making change; reducing, reusing and recycling; and stopping waste; and he hates litterbugs and wasters.

The Tamworth Regional Council (TRC) initiative is aimed at ways families can be more sustainable at home and at school, like recycling, turning off lights when not in use, and turning the tap off when brushing their teeth.

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TRC sustainability coordinator Tracey Carr said it was very exciting introducing Sonny to the public school students.

"It's incredibly important that we're engaging with our school students, keeping them enthusiastic and excited about sustainability," she said.

"We all know school children are very environmentally aware, they're very switched on, schools are already running a lot of programs and we've worked really hard to make sure what we've developed is complimentary for what they're already doing, and adds value and further information."

Deputy mayor Phil Betts said it was paramount to ingrain the importance of looking after the environment in younger children.

"Where learning starts is with young people of our schools," Cr Betts said.

"There's been a lot of work done to make our water supplies and energy sources in the Tamworth region sustainable, and this is just another step to engage with Sonny and the kids to get on board and save our environment."

Ms Carr said locals should expect to see Sonny out and about more often.

"We're looking for lots of opportunities to bring Sonny out and he's got a few appointments booked in like at the landfill and some of our facilities where we'll be capturing some more of Sonny's adventures in sustainability," she told the Leader.

"We're looking forward to hearing people's feedback on that and hope they enjoy it as much as we do."

Find out more about what Sonny and Skye are up to via the TRC website at https://sustainablesonny.tamworth.nsw.gov.au/

Children can find activities, games and colouring-in sheets, parents can read up on some fact sheets, and much more on the website.