Look After Your Planet Charlie and Lola

CHARLIE AND LOLA LAUGH

Charlie!

Lola?

Charlie!

BOTH: Charlie and Lola!

I have this little sister, Lola. She is small and very funny.

Lola loves keeping things, all kinds of things.

Boxes, old broken toys - just things.

Not any more!

Why not?

I just don't keep so many things nowadays.

Has it got anything to do with when we went to Marv's house yesterday?

Maybe.

Shh! I dare anyone to go into my brother Marty's room.

Anyone.

Why?

My brother Marty doesn't let anyone in his bedroom.

Anyone!

And he doesn't let anyone touch any of his things.

Any of his things.

And he's in very big trouble with my mum.

Why?

Because he won't throw anything away.

Mum says his room looks like a complete pigsty.

PIGS GRUNT

A pigsty.

MORTON GRUNTS

He can't be that bad.

Huh! Oh, yes he can.

He is.

We can just peek.

No! Marv, don't do it.

-Woah!

-Oof!

-Ugh!

-Oh!

Marty hasn't cleaned out his room for one whole year.

One whole year.

Oh, it's squiggy!

I know. It's pongy.

< Get out of my room! Now!

-Run!

-Run!

No, not that.

No, no, no, no, no.

So what exactly are you doing, Lola?

I do not ever, never want my room to look like Marty's.

So I am throwing everything away.

Throwing it away?

Yes, Charlie, because I don't need it.

How about you recycle it?

Bicycle it?

No! RE-cycle it.

Recycle it? What is it?

Well, it's quite difficult to explain.

I suppose it's a way

that people can reuse old things in a different and new way.

Why?

If we just threw everything away, we'd all maybe be completely buried

under a massive, huge pile of rubbish.

And if we don't use things again,

in the end, we'll just run out of everything.

And if we don't recycle all the rubbish, and just burn it all,

then that makes pollution, and makes the air smell all horrible.

CHARLIE AND LOLA COUGH

So recycling is a good thing.

And the other good thing

is you can make something totally new out of something old.

Ooh!

Maybe I can show you.

That week, we collected lots of old cans, paper and plastic bottles.

Look, Charlie, this box is for comics, boxes,

newspapers and egg boxes.

-It's for recycling all the different things made out of paper.

-Oh.

Lola was really excited to find out

that cardboard and paper are made out of trees.

Oh, I love trees!

CHAINSAW BUZZES

But if we keep cutting down all the trees to make more and more paper,

we won't have any trees left.

Or woods, or forests, or anything.

Oh.

So, you see, it's really important to recycle old paper.

Mrs Finch showed us a film about how there are these places

where the old paper gets squidged up again, with water and things.

And then they press it all flat, let it dry,

and make all sorts of new types of paper.

Like what, Charlie?

Writing paper, gift paper, toilet paper, egg boxes,

colouring-in paper, wrapping paper.

That is clever.

Mum bought me this special comic. It's called Look After Your Planet.

And there's lots about recycling in it.

Ooh, can I have a look?

Ooh, a competition!

-Is there?

-Yes.

You can win a tree all of your own to plant.

What do we have to do? What do we have to do?

We have to collect a hundred of each thing.

A hundred tin cans, a hundred plastic things,

and a hundred things made out of paper.

That's a lot of things, Charlie.

-Look, your very own tree counter.

-Oh!

Every time you collect something to recycle, stick a leaf onto a branch.

When your tree counter is completely full up,

you can get your very own real tree to plant.

I would love to plant a tree.

-Well, you'd better start recycling.

-Yes, Charlie.

This box is for all the plastic things, and this one is for paper,

and this one is for tin cans.

And look, I have already recycled two plastic bottle tops,

a baked bean tin and a paper.

I'm not sure we can collect a hundred of each thing

in just two weeks, Lola, all on our own.

Of course we can, Charlie. Have you finished? Good!

-What are you doing?

-Look, I can recycle these toilet rolls.

No, Lola, the idea is to use it slowly and save the paper first,

so that we don't have to cut down lots of trees.

-Then you recycle them.

-Oh. OK, Charlie.

HE SIGHS

Lola, I don't think you've quite understood.

Oh yes I have, Charlie.

Ooh!

There!

Lola, I'm sure Mum and Dad will recycle their newspaper,

but only after they have read it.

Well, they'd better hurry up,

because we need more leaves on our tree counter, quickly.

-I know, why don't we ask Marv, Marty and Morton for help?

-Hmm!

My brother Marty's away, but he wouldn't help anyway,

because he never throws anything away.

He never throws anything.

-That can be recycled, Morton.

-Oh!

Maybe we need to ask some even more people.

We have to save the trees,

and stop us being covered in a big, large pile of rubbish,

and our planet being squashed.

If we fill this tree with leaves,

we will win our very own real tree for the school.

Ooh, I want to do it! Pass it on.

CHILDREN MUTTER TO EACH OTHER

CHILDREN CHATTER EXCITEDLY

Is that finished?

Can I take the newspapers?

Can you help me? It's really heavy.

CHILDREN LAUGH AND CHATTER

Morton, that is made out of plastic, and it has to go in the plastic box.

Oh. Sorry.

Oh, look at all this.

CHILDREN LAUGH AND CHATTER

What have you got?

Thank you very much.

You are a very good recycler, Lotta.

Oh!

Morton! You're not helping.

Hmm. Right.

Ooh.

CHILDREN SIGH IN DISAPPOINTMENT

Oh, no. We haven't filled up the whole tree.

So we will be not getting our own real tree.

-We haven't done it.

-Oh.

What's that?

It's Morton.

And look at what he's got!

Morton!

Where did you get all that?

Marty's bedroom.

Thank you, Morton.

You are going to be in such big trouble.

Our real school tree.

THEY CHEER

We did it!

Who's been in my room?! >

Let's get out of here, quick!