Teams from ten schools throughout the UK wowed environmental leaders with their ideas on tackling climate change in London today. The finalists each made a short presentation to senior figures in business, industry, science and the environmental lobby in a bid to win first prize for their schools.
The Wipe Out Waste Awards initiative was hosted by Footprint Friends and sponsored by powerPerfector. All ideas were pitched in 10-minute spots and will be showcased via Footprint Friends. The winning school will also have a powerPerfector unit fitted, enabling it to reduce its power consumption and carbon footprint by up to 20%.
Footprint Friends founding director Karen Ford said: “Today has been all about the conscious thoughts and voices of young people. We are giving them a platform and the backing of action to go out and really make a difference to our world. The energy and initiative on show to do just that has been amazing.”
All of the ideas presented were of an exceptional standard – and highlighted the talent and passion young people have for being part of the drive to a more sustainable way of living.
The winning team, from Canon Burrows CE Primary School in Tameside, Manchester, came up with an ingenious idea to sustain the use of pencils which are normally thrown away when they have been half used. Their innovative design of a clever pencil holder that grips the pencil from new until it runs out sustains the pencil’s use until it is a stub. The idea has been developed further to incorporate a comfy grip, using sustainable materials, and even with commercial potential – all in a reusable device.
The Canon Burrows Team comprised Miah Chaudhry (10), Rebecca Gunby (10), Ewen Hine (11), and Oliver Thornley (11). “It was a really intense experience,” said Miah. “We were dazzled at coming to London and really enjoyed making the presentation.” Oliver added: “But we enjoyed it most when we won!” Teacher Suzanne Fildes said: “We thoroughly enjoyed the event even before we won, but winning means so much to the children and it will have an impact on the whole school which is really committed to climate change action.”
Second place went to the team from Smithycroft Secondary in Glasgow with their detailed plan to stop the schools use of 3m pieces of disposable dinnerware which goes into landfill each year, replacing it with reusable place settings and dishwashers. In joint third were Park School in Lancashire with ‘Local Milk for All’ to stop using milk in tetra packs and switch to milk in recyclable glass bottles sourced from a local dairy, and St Luke’s Science & Sports College in Devon with a commercial idea to take its litter and food waste to be recycled and reused or sold on. All winning teams and runners up were presented with a range of goodies including an energy monitor, signed books by authors present at the event, and T-shirts.
Melissa Corkhill is the editor of The Green Parent magazine, mother of two and author of the book Green Parenting
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