Talented school pupils, from across Argyll and Bute, have used their creative skills to inspire residents to think more about making recycling and creating less waste their New Year’s resolution for 2025.
We asked our young people to come up a song, poem or poster that makes us think about recycling in new, fun ways at Christmas, and how important it is for our environment.
It is also important to remember that reducing the amount of waste that goes to landfill, through promoting reduce, re-use and recycling can help save money, protect services as well as support climate-friendly measures
The winners, runners-up, and a selection of the other entries, will be showcased on Argyll and Bute Council’s social media in the run up to Christmas and the week between Christmas and New Year. The winning entries in each age-group will also receive a £50 Lovely Local Gift cards for their school and the runners up £25 gift cards for the school.
And the winners are…
P1-P3 category
- Winner - Eva and Georgia, from Rhu Primary School
- Runner-up - Gabriela, from Lochgoilhead Primary School
P4-P7 category
- Winner - Sarah, from Kilmodan Primary School
- Runner-up - Macie, from St Joseph’s Primary School
- Runner-up - Jaiden, from Rosneath Primary School
Secondary School category
- Winner - S1 and S2 pupils from Hermitage Academy
- Runner-up - Belle, from Lochgilphead High School
- Runner-up - Lochgilphead High School Learning Centre
The competition was judged by Councillor John Armour, Policy Lead for Roads, Transport and Amenity Services; Councillor Audrey Forrest, Policy Lead for Education; and Councillor Luna Martin, Policy Lead for Climate Change, Renewables and Net Zero.
Councillor Armour said: “There are some things that really remind me why I love my job, and this was one of them. All the entries were brilliant. It was very hard to choose winners and my thanks go to all those who took part. Recycling is so important and I am delighted to see that our young people care about it as much as I do.”
Councillor Forrest said: “As policy lead for Education, I am so proud of what our schools achieve each and every day. When our pupils are allowed to unleash their creativity – it’s something to behold. I was also impressed by their understanding of what is a complex issue, and the stories they told in their work were fantastic.”
Councillor Martin said: “It was incredibly difficult to judge the competition because of quality of entries and I would like to thank the pupils and teachers who took part. Climate change is a serious subject and yet the schools brought colour and joy in their approach to reminding us how we can all do better in looking after our planet. I loved seeing all the different ideas and the depth of knowledge they demonstrated. If, as adults, we do our bit now, I feel the future is in safe hands.”