Issued: 5 March 2003
Angus Schools Triumph In Yellow Challenge
Youngsters at Ferryden Primary School in Montrose have won £300 to help improve their environment after collecting the most Yellow Pages directories locally in a schools recycling initiative.
The Yellow Woods Challenge, run by Yellow Pages, the Directory Recycling Scheme and the Woodland Trust working together with Angus Council, offered local schools cash prizes in return for recycling old directories.
The challenge aimed to educate schoolchildren about the importance of recycling and conservation, reduce the amount of paper going to landfill and to support the Woodland Trust.
Ferryden Primary School came first collecting 400 old directories - the equivalent of 2.48 per pupil, and received its top cash prize from Yellow Pages to spend on improving the school's environment.
Hayshead Primary School nursery class, Arbroath, came second, collecting 2.41 directories per pupil and winning £200. Langlands Primary School, Forfar, came third, collecting 1.8 yellow pages per pupil and winning £100.
Councillor Sheena Welsh, Convener of Angus Council’s Environmental and Consumer Protection Committee, said: "This has been a very exciting competition and we are delighted that teachers and pupils have shown such enthusiasm during the challenge. I wish our local schools all the best of luck in the UK Finals next September."
Richard Duggleby, head of external relations with Yell, the publisher of Yellow Pages, said: "The response of schoolchildren is a very encouraging indication of how seriously they take issues relating to the environment and its protection. I'd like to thank the council for organising the Yellow Woods Challenge in Angus and also congratulate all the children, teachers and parents who worked so hard to make the challenge a success."
The Yellow Woods Challenge is a simple, fun and educational competition that also aims to help the Woodland Trust, the UK's leading woodland conservation charity.
For every pound Yellow Pages has awarded to schools, a pound will be donated to the Woodland Trust to help protect native woodland.
In total, 14 primary schools with 3964 pupils across Scotland collected 8.20 tonnes in just five weeks. These will be recycled by New Calder Paper Mill Company, Edinburgh into cardboard packaging.
Each school that participated will be given a certificate, named after a woodland tree, according to the total number of directories collected. The six schools that collected the most directories in total will win CD-roms and videos to teach children about the wonders of ancient woodland.
All the schools from the Angus Challenge will automatically be entered into the Yellow Woods Challenge UK Finals where they will compete with up to 1,000 schools across the UK to win one of three top prizes of £2,000.