Pupils are the best recyclers in the land

CHAMPIONS . . . Rushcroft pupils pictured with Kirk, the Yellow Pages mascot

GREEN wizards at Rushcroft Primary School are celebrating after being crowned UK Recycling Champions 2008.

The school’s 204 pupils won £1,000 in the Yellow Woods Challenge after recycling a staggering 2,383 old Yellow Pages directories.

The recycling scores from more than 2,200 schools were fed into a national database and Rushcroft Primary, Shaw, came top of the leader board in the medium schools category.

Jane Sheridan, head teacher, said the prize money will go towards a new eco garden at the school.

She said: “We felt a huge sense of pride when we won our local competition.

“To go on and take national honours for recycling is an enormous achievement.

“Our youngsters really took the challenge to heart and the award is a fitting reflection of their enthusiasm for the environment.

“The prize money is very welcome too and will be spent on creating an eco garden with raised beds and paths so that all children can access it.”

She added: “The children will be responsible for looking after the garden and growing their own vegetables. We are aiming for ‘Green Flag’ status this year.”

The competition was run by Yellow Pages working in partnership with the Woodland Trust and local authorities across the UK.

For every pound Yellow Pages awards to schools in cash prizes, a matching pound is donated to the Woodland Trust’s “Tree For All”campaign, which aims to plant a tree for every child in the UK.