Inverness pupils back litter campaign at their school
Volunteers from The Inverness Royal Academy including pupils and staff, were joined by staff from ASDA and The Highland Council at litter hotspots to encourage school pupils to use litter bags and bins for waste and recycling throughout the week. In addition pupils and staff from Bun-sgoil Ghàidhlig Inbhir Nis also provided some young volunteers for the week.
At the end of each day the rubbish and recycling bags/bins were analysed to obtain valuable data about waste generated at school lunch breaks. Nearly 24 kg of waste was collected in the bins from the pupils over the week long campaign of which nearly a third was recycled including 92 plastic bottles and 40 cans.
In return for using the bins provided, pupils were given a token that they handed in at the school to help reach the weekly target of 900 tokens. Pupils who returned their tokens to the school were also entered into a prize draw to win £10 cash prizes together with a £20 gift voucher kindly donated by ASDA as incentives to reward pupils for disposing of their litter properly.
Craig Paterson the General Store Manager at Asda in Inverness was delighted to be able to support this campaign and said “It has been a really good initiative and anything that helps to protect the environment and community is definitely worth supporting, this scope campaign has been very positive and I am delighted to have been able to support it with our Community Champion and staff helping during the week”
In total, over 1100 tokens were handed in by the pupils, which was way beyond their target for the week. As the school successfully reached their target they will receive £750 to spend on eco equipment or initiatives as part of the campaign. Bun-sgoil Ghàidhlig Inbhir Nis will also receive up to £500 of funding to spend on eco equipment or initiatives as they provided volunteers during the week.
Mr Alastair McKinlay Rector of the I.R.A. said “This campaign really has raised the awareness of the litter issue. It is also a great example of schools, volunteers from the community, The Highland Council and retailers pulling together with such a great scheme, the test now will be over the coming weeks to see if we can keep the momentum going.”
The Scope Litter Campaign which is being funded by Zero Waste Scotland as part of a Scotland wide trial, aims to reduce the amount of lunch time litter around secondary schools and to build links between the community, businesses and schools.
This week scope is running at Dingwall Academy, Kingussie High School, Inverness High School and Portree High School.