The Princess of Wales described how her family adhere to the tenets of the popular animated workman who believes in not letting anything go to waste.
The Princess of Wales has revealed she follows the environmental philosophy of an unlikely figure from the green movement – Bob the Builder.
Kate described how her family adhere to the tenets of the popular animated workman who believes in not letting anything go to waste, during a visit to an Italian project re-using industrial surplus.
During a discussion at the Remida centre in the Italian city of Reggio Emilia, the princess said with a smile: “There’s a popular character called Bob the Builder and he has a philosophy of ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ and you embrace that here.
“It’s something as a mother, and I feel as a family we do a lot, is try to have at the back of our minds.”
The princess travelled to Italy to learn about Reggio Emilia’s world-renowned education programme for young children that stresses the importance of parents, educators and the environment – “the third teacher” – that surround a child.
She began her day visiting a public infant-toddler centre and nursery school in the city to learn more about the education system and joined children at an outside activity.
The school places an emphasis on outdoor learning and environmental education and Kate talked to children and staff as they handled newts from a tank.
She paid tribute to broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough who recently celebrated his 100 birthday saying: “In most urban areas, even in central London, we have newts like this. It’s extraordinary, if you look and spend time, you realise how close it is to you.
“David Attenborough says you have to be able to experience nature in order to protect it – it’s so true.”
During her visit to the Remida centre, Kate learned it was a resource hub where teachers can bring pre-school children to work on special projects designed to boost their learning through creativity.
Unwanted materials, including brightly-coloured wool, string, textiles and larger plastic tubes are brought to the centre after being donated by companies, including Tetra Pak.
The children are then invited to use materials in workshops run at the centre, which receives more than 3,000 visitors a year including educators and teachers from around the world.
After hearing about the public private partnership that makes the centre possible, Kate was told about how the whole society worked together in Reggio Emilia to support early years education.
Kate nodded and said: “That’s what I’ve really picked up on.”
She touched some of the fabric swatches that children can use to create collages and said that it was “fantastic to see” materials being reused which would “otherwise go to landfill”.
The princess recognised her Italian host by wearing a blazer from Blaze Milano, a luxury Italian womenswear brand, and what appeared to be a fabric bracelet by Atelier Molayem, a Milan-based jewellery company.
