Recycling rewards for schools

Pupils in Cumbria are to sign up to a brand new initiative that could see them turn cans into computers, textiles into trumpets, paper into printers and glass into guitars.

The scheme, recycling rewards for schools is being launched by the Cumbria Waste Partnership this month, and is offering thousands of pounds worth of prizes for primary schools and pupils to win. And there is no skill or competition involved - all they have to do is get their family, friends and neighbours to pledge that they will start recycling their rubbish.

All primary schools signing up for the Defra-funded initiative, which runs from now until the end of March 2006, will share in a points reward scheme based on the amount of recyclable rubbish that is collected in Cumbria every month. The number of points awarded will relate to the number of pledges gathered by the schools. The points accrued can then be exchanged for a wide range of equipment, including TVs, projectors, cameras, computers and musical instruments.

As well as rewards for the school there are great incentives for the children to take part. Individual pupils will be given funky green finger bands on getting three signed pledges and then a trendy wrist band and a voucher for Camelot and Aquarium of the Lakes once they reach six pledges. In addition, for the pupil who collects the most pledges in each school, there`s a reward of a great new mini MP3 player.

Paul Gardner, head teacher at Heron Hill Primary School says: ""This is a fantastic way for us to get really useful equipment for our school, and we would urge parents and local residents to support us. At the same time, it`s also a fun and rewarding way for us to teach our pupils about being environmentally aware and the benefits of recycling."

Jack Richardson, Cumbria County Council spokesman on the environment, says: "We can`t bury our heads in the sand as we bury our rubbish, hoping that it will go away. We must all learn to recycle to help preserve the environment for our children. Households who sign a pledge are showing their commitment to use our recycling services regularly to benefit the school. Pledge forms are worthless if households doesn`t start to recycle".

In common with all local authorities, Cumbria has been set recycling targets by Defra, which is funding the scheme as part of its Waste Performance and Efficiency Grants remit to improve the country`s record on recycling. The UK still falls behind most of Europe in reducing the amount of waste it sends to landfill.

How the points scheme works

Pupils at participating schools will be given a book of `pledge` forms to take home and get family, friends and neighbours to sign up to `promise to regularly recycle their rubbish` and to nominate the school they wish to support.

The school that gets the most pledges signed up in the first month (pro-rata to number of pupils) will get a Yamaha keyboard worth £80. Every subsequent month, the school with the most pledges gets a choice of violin, guitar or percussion pack.

For the first month, each pledge accounts for one point. After that reward points are issued each month on a pro rata basis relating to the number of pledges received and the increase in the weight of waste recycled in Cumbria.

Schools can redeem their `recycling points` at any time or save them until the end of the scheme before swapping them from a wide range of items such as a microphone stand for 195 points or an Apple Mac Mini for nearly 6,000 points.

Points are based on the total amount of waste recycled in Cumbria - the more tonnes being recycled the more points they register. For example, 1 - 500 tonnes = 10 points per tonne, 2001 - 2500 tonnes = 30 points per tonne.

The portion of the total pledges achieved by each school will determine the proportion of the points values to be credited to that school each month. Schools will get a monthly statement to see what they have achieved.

For further information on the recycling rewards for schools or to register your school, please contact Neil Maver, campaign co-ordinator on 01772 770 770.