It’s the North Tyneside Council competition to encourage people to be greener when binning their bottles and cans – and now two residents have won a share of £1,000.
High street shopping vouchers worth £500 each have been handed over to the two lucky winners.
It’s after they joined in with the council’s waste campaign, Changing Our Thinking, which provides rewards and incentives to encourage residents to recycle.
Either by entering online or at a community roadshow, over 750 residents guessed the number of plastic bottles and cans that were in a 240-litre wheelie bin.
In return, they were also asked to take a pledge to wash, squash and recycle at home.
And for many of those who kept to their promise, there were monthly shopping vouchers worth £100 up for grabs, and £300 a term for schools.
But the big prize of £1,000 was awarded to two residents who correctly guessed there were 145 plastic bottles and cans in the wheelie bin.
One of the winners was Melanie Sanderson, from North Shields. After being given her vouchers last week (March 23), Melanie said: “I was shocked to hear I’d won but really pleased. I’m not sure what I’ll buy with the vouchers yet – I might spend part of it on some nice new clothes. The campaign is a good idea and I’d encourage others have a go.”
Following the success of the initiative over the last year, the 240-litre bin has been refilled – this time with a variety of recyclable materials – meaning there are more chances for residents to pledge and be in with a chance of winning monthly £100 prizes and another grand prize of £1,000.
Welcoming the return of the campaign, and after presenting Melanie with her prize, Cllr John Stirling, cabinet member for Environment, said: “The Changing Our Thinking campaign has proved to be a brilliant way to engage with households, helping to increase recycling rates and divert recyclable materials away from landfill.
“More and more residents are recycling, which is great news, and it’s brilliant that we’re able to reward so many of them with the shopping vouchers. I’d like to say congratulations to Melanie – and the other winners – and hope she enjoys treating herself to something lovely with her vouchers.
“While recycling is second nature to many of our residents, we need everyone to take responsibility for the things they throw away, which is why we’re running it again. I’d encourage residents to come along to a roadshow or make the pledge on our website.”
Information about the roadshow and details of the campaign are available atwww.northtyneside.gov.uk.