Winners of children's recycle and reuse short story competition praised

The winners of a children’s short story competition, which focused on the themes of waste and recycling, were presented with their prizes last weekend (September 21) at Exeter Library.

The competition was held earlier this year and was organised by Devon County Council’s Waste Education Team.  

The team works with schools across the county to raise awareness about the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling through events such as this competition, school trips and workshops.

The competition complemented recent workshops on composting, marine litter, and reducing plastic waste, allowing many children to apply what they learned.  

It was open to 7–11 year-olds and was judged by bestselling children’s author Michael Morpurgo MBE and founder of charity Farms for City Children, Clare Morpurgo MBE. 

The award ceremony was attended by representatives from Recycle Devon, sponsors Suez recycling and recovery UK, Libraries Unlimited and Councillor Roger Croad, Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Health, Communities and Equality.

The winners received a £50 book token and runners up received a £10 book token provided by Suez.

Each winner also received a Recycle Devon goody bag.  

The winners were Abigail, 10, from Alphington Primary School, Tilly, 11, from Great Torrington Bluecoat Primary School, Evie, 11, from Honiton Primary School and Phoebe, 10 from Dawlish and Arlo, 9, from Totnes were runners up.

Arlo said “I just love creating my own worlds and writing about adventures. And you can do it to.” 

Abigail said: “I hope for my story to have a positive impact on climate change” 

Councillor Roger Croad, Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Health, Communities and Equality, said: “It’s wonderful to see young children engage so enthusiastically about waste, messages that will hopefully stick with them for generations to come.” 

Jacqui Winterburn, Reuse Area Co-ordinator for SUEZ said: “We’re delighted to be sponsoring such a fantastic event that gets the next generation thinking about what differences they can make around waste to help improve our environment.”