Children join recycling drive

Pupils from 12 schools have signed up to East Sussex County Council's Community Challenge initiative since it was launched in March.

Dozens of art projects, exhibitions, publicity campaigns and public events are being run by environmentally-minded youngsters to spread messages about re-using and recycling.

Secondary and primary schools are being given an extra 500 for educational resources in return for running activities including collecting pledges to recycle and recruiting 'Waste-buster' families, who will be given a pack with ideas to cut down on household rubbish.

Initiatives are being planned in towns and villages throughout the county as part of Community Challenge:

- In Ringmer, two pupils visited the town's County Market on Tuesday last week (May 8) to talk to locals about environment issues. Tom Baker and Alex Venn from Ringmer College, persuaded several stall-holders, including Sue Howes, to sign a pledge to recycle;

- Students from Uckfield Community Technical College are planning to use their pester power to encourage customers at the town's farmers' market to sign pledge cards;

- Youngsters from Chailey School are running a paper-free email campaign to collect pledges and recruit waste buster households;

Prizes will be awarded to the most successful schools at a ceremony next year. The project will culminate in a Youth Waste Summit next March, where young people will be able to debate what they have learnt.