Mayor congratulates youngster for recycling pledges

A Carlisle youngster has beaten more than 6,000 pupils county-wide to gain the most number of pledges from family, neighbours and friends to recycle.

On Tuesday, June 10 2008, Abigail Lithgow, from St Michael’s CE School, Dalston will receive a special award from The Mayor of Carlisle, Cllr Jacquelyne Geddes and Cllr Ray Bloxham, the City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Environment and Infrastructure for gaining 167 pledges under the Recycling Rewards for Schools initiative.

Young people from more than 170 Cumbrian schools took part in the scheme to encourage kids to collect pledges to recycle more of their rubbish, the total number of pledges so far for Cumbria is 38,111 and in Carlisle, the figure is 6,614.

The schools taking part also benefited from receiving school equipment such as musical instruments, computers and digital cameras.

The Mayor of Carlisle, Cllr Jacquelyne Geddes, said:

"I am delighted that young people are taking recycling so seriously and they are able to put gentle pressure on family and neighbours to do their bit. Through this pledge scheme, children and schools can help to encourage recycling."

Cllr Ray Bloxham, the City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Environment and Infrastructure, said:

"Carlisle has an excellent track record for recycling and we work closely with our schools to encourage young people to think about recycling. Our recycling rate continues to rise and we have expanded the range of materials that can be recycled and so the outlook is very positive."

Since Carlisle City Council introduced the new look waste collection scheme, in Carlisle, last March, residents are recycling nearly half their household rubbish. There has been a dramatic rise in recycling rates since the scheme was introduced to the first round of households. Carlisle residents recycled a staggering 48.78% of their waste in 2007/2008, compared to 34.51% in 2006/2007.

The Recycling Rewards for Schools Initiative has been run by Resource Cumbria, the Strategic Waste Partnership between Cumbria County Council and the six district councils.