Youngsters pick up recycling prizes

Green-minded primary school pupils across Cumbria have collected thousands of recycling pledges over the past three years…and are now picking up prizes as a reward for their hard work.

On Tuesday (21 October) a pupil at Thomlinson Junior School in Wigton will be handed the top prize - a holiday at Center Parcs for the girl and her family - after their scratch card entry was drawn out of a hat.

Scratch cards were sent to every pupil who collected recycling pledges from family, friends and neighbours. These pledges helped achieve a 50 per cent increase in the amount of household waste that gets recycled in Cumbria.

The scratch cards featured five Cumbrian recycling themed multiple choice questions with youngsters being asked to scratch off the panel next to the answer they thought was correct.

As well as the first prize of a Center Parcs break, a child at North Lakes School in Penrith has scooped the third prize of a luxury Cumbrian hamper, while another prize of two adult and two children`s mountain bikes will also be handed out.

This year alone Cumbria`s schools have collected a massive 37,747 pledges, making a total of 72,000 pledging households over the whole three-year Recycling Rewards for Schools campaign.

Run by Resource Cumbria, the strategic waste partnership between Cumbria County Council and the six district councils, the campaign has seen schools presented with a wide range of new equipment such as musical instruments and computers in return for recycling pledges.

Mark Buchanan, Cumbria County Council`s waste education officer for Copeland and Allerdale, will be at Thomlinson Junior School on Tuesday to give an assembly about recycling and hand out the award, while Judith Bradshaw, community waste education officer for Carlisle and Eden, will do the same at North Lakes School.

Martin Allman, waste prevention manager at Cumbria County Council, said: "Primary school children across the county have done a fantastic job in collecting recycling pledges, which have made a big difference in increasing the amount of household waste we recycle in Cumbria.

"These prizes are fully deserved and although the campaign is now over, recycling is still really important and we want to remind everybody who made a pledge to carry on the good work and recycle as much of their household waste as they can."