Going green has helped children from North Tyneside scoop a £300 prize for their school.
The cash windfall will be awarded to Star of the Sea Primary School in Whitley Bay after pupils made a pledge to Wash, Squash and Recycle.
The idea for the pledge came about after a talk about recycling as part of North Tyneside Council’s waste campaign, Changing Our Thinking.
The initiative provides rewards and incentives to encourage everyone to recycle more. The talk was given by the community organisation Groundwork.
The youngsters pledged to try and recycle more by identifying items that could be recycled, but even more importantly they promised to encourage their parents to recycle more too.
The school will now use the money to buy recycling bins for the schoolyard so pupils can continue their efforts.
James Hannah, Head Teacher, said: “We aim to teach our pupils about the importance of looking after our environment and the Wash, Squash and Recycle pledge is a fun and educational way to reinforce these messages.
“The children have really taken to the campaign and enjoyed fulfilling their pledge so it’s great to see that their hard work and commitment to the cause has been rewarded.”
Star of the Sea Primary School is the eighth school in the borough to win the £300 prize for pledging to Wash, Squash and Recycle.
It’s part of North Tyneside Council’s campaign to encourage people of all ages to be greener when binning their cans and bottles by offering rewards and incentives.
Other schools to have been rewarded for their pledge have put the money towards a story chair made from reclaimed wood and bus hire to take them for a tour of local recycling sites.
Phil Scott, Head of Environment, Housing and Leisure, North Tyneside Council, said: “We’re urging residents to change the way they think when it comes to recycling.
“Washing recyclable items results in less contamination in your bin and squashing them gives you more room in your bin to recycle even more.
“It’s really encouraging to see that this message is getting through to our youngsters and we applaud pupils at Sea of the Star Primary School for their efforts and hope others follow in their footsteps.”
For more information about the campaign visit https://my.northtyneside.gov.uk/category/400/wash-squash-and-recycle