Highland children know the score in recycling competition.
Two of the three prize winners in a competition run by The Highland Council Waste Awareness Team at Highland Summer Shows were aged under ten!
The competition?... to guess the number of plastic bottles that had been squashed into a blue recycling bin…and the prize?...a ‘king size’ compost bin, worth £150.
Competition winner at the Black Isle Show was Mr James Vint Grant from Fortrose who guessed 165 bottles – the actual number was 167. Winner for the competition for Nairn and Grantown Shows was 9 year old Ayla Bariskan from Balblair, Croy who guessed 160 bottles.
The Skye Agriculture Show competition was won by six and a half year old Madeleine Hawthorne whose guess of 149 was only one out from the actual number of 148! Madeleine’s parents, Liza and Barry, run the Isle of Skye Baking Company and plan to use the new bin to minimise waste from their new bakery premises in the Old Wool Mill in Portree. They will compost a mix of fruit and vegetable peelings from their food business along with the specially compostable paper cups and plates that they use to serve drinks and food.
Barry said: “Madeleine’s prize couldn’t have come at a better time as we were just in the process of working on how to handle the waste from the business in an environmentally friendly way which would avoid organic material ending up in landfill.”
Liza added: “We will be able to use the compost we produce to grow our vegetables! Sustainability is a big part of the ethos of our business.”
The Highland Council’s Waste Awareness Team is happy to advise any of its commercial customers on ways to reduce their waste and recycle more.
This year’s Summer Shows fell during the middle of the roll-out of new refuse and recycling collections to all Highland Council residents and business customers, aimed at increasing recycling throughout The Highland Council area. The Waste Awareness Team’s stand at the shows gave the public an opportunity learn more about the new collections as well as ask any questions.
Chairman of the Council’s TEC services committee, Councillor John Laing, said that the competitions had cleverly helped to highlight both recycling and composting as key elements of The Highland Council’s drive to reduce land filled waste. He added: “The Summer Shows – and in particular the large corporate marquee at The Black Isle Show – provide a valuable opportunity for the different Council services to engage with the public. This year’s stand at the Black Isle Show was particularly well attended with a range of activities to draw in both young and old.”
For more information about the new Highland Council collection service or how to reduce waste please call 01349 886603; email recycle@highland.gov.uk or visit http://www.www.highland.gov.uk/