West Coats Primary School in Cambuslang has won the Climate Action Project of the Year in the Eco-Schools Scotland awards, run by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful.
A South Lanarkshire primary school has won a national prize for its efforts to stop pumpkin guts going to landfill.
West Coats Primary School in Cambuslang has won the Climate Action Project of the Year in the Eco-Schools Scotland awards, run by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful.
The school was inspired to tackle pumpkin waste after learning about the 18,000 tonnes of pumpkin wasted annually in the UK.
Every class at the school, from P1 to P7 and The Treehouse, were given a pumpkin with one clear mission: use every part.
Each class got creative: P3 used pumpkins for cooking, P4 turned them into bird feeders and made pumpkin loaf and P6 transformed pumpkins into vases and much more.
Across the school the seeds were eaten, planted, composted and given to birds – no part was wasted.
Andrea Gabriel, Education Manager at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “Our annual Eco-Schools Scotland awards are the perfect opportunity to highlight and celebrate those who go above and beyond to protect and care for environment.
“West Coats Primary School’s project has highlighted how easy it is to make the most out of something that is so often wasted and can actually cause harm to the environment.
“The fact that pupils from all ages have got involved makes it even more special, an excellent example of a whole-school approach to learning for sustainability. Congratulations to everyone who took part.”
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Jeanie Robin, class teacher at West Coats Primary, said: “We are absolutely thrilled that our Pumpkin Power Challenge has been recognised with the Climate Action Project of the Year Award.
“The project encouraged every class across the school to think differently about food waste by finding creative and sustainable ways to use pumpkin innards that would otherwise have gone to landfill.
“Pupils worked together to cook, share recipes with families, support local wildlife and engage the wider community in conversations about sustainability.
“A huge thank you must go to our Eco Committee, whose vision, creativity and determination drove the project from start to finish. We are incredibly proud of the enthusiasm, teamwork and environmental awareness shown by our learners, and delighted that such a simple idea created such a positive impact across our whole school community.”
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Three awards were given out this year; the other winners were Harrysmuir Primary School in West Lothian, who won Eco-Committee of the Year, and Jo Wright from Dumfries and Galloway’s Hardgate Primary School, who won Eco-Coordinator of the Year.
Eco-Schools is the largest sustainable schools programme in the world with almost 20 million children, young people and educators engaged worldwide in 73 different countries.
In Scotland almost 900 schools currently fly the Green Flag proudly while hundreds of others are on their own journey, through our Climate Action Schools framework, to achieve one.
Eco-Schools is one of five programmes operated internationally by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and delivered by Keep Scotland Beautiful in Scotland as part of its Climate Action Schools framework, which supports schools towards achieving Target 20230 and is supported by funding from the Scottish Government.
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