ISLE OF LEWIS SCHOOL TOPS LEAGUE TABLE
IN NATIONAL RECYCLING COMPETITION
Eco-minded pupils at Balallan School have scooped £1,000 for their environmental achievements in a national recycling competition.
The school has won the ‘Most Improved School’ award in the UK finals of the Yellow Woods Challenge 2007 – an environmental campaign for schools run by Yellow Pages working in partnership with the Woodland Trust and local authorities across the UK.
The Challenge rewards schools for recycling old Yellow Pages directories. This year, the 32 Balallan pupils clinched the title for the impressive increase in the average number of directories collected per pupil, from 5 directories in 2006 to 18 directories in 2007.*
Susannah Finn, chair of the judges at Yell, the publisher of Yellow Pages directories said: “We were really impressed by Balallan School’s enthusiasm for the Challenge and their excellent recycling efforts this year. The school is a worthy winner of this title and a real ambassador for the Challenge.”
Mrs Anne MacLeod, headteacher at Balallan School, said: “The children were thrilled when they learnt we had won the national award. We plan to use the prize money to develop outdoor classroom areas within our school grounds which will allow our pupils to study the diversity of plants and living creatures in school and begin to foster a caring appreciation of the environment.”
For every pound Yellow Pages awards to schools, it gives a matching pound to the Woodland Trust’s ‘Tree For All’ campaign – the most ambitious children’s tree-planting project ever launched in the UK.
Jacqui Morris, communications officer for the Woodland Trust Scotland, said: “The match funding from this award will help us plant and care for a hundred trees in Scotland, so thank you to everyone at the school and on the Isle of Lewis who took part.”
The 2008 Yellow Woods Challenge will take place in the Western Isles in June. To find out more information about the local Yellow Woods Challenge, call Sharon MacKinnon, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, on 01851 708613 or visit www.yellow-woods.co.uk
For media enquiries, please contact Katreena Dare, Yell Public Relations Department on 0118 950 6325.
Notes to editors:
* Most Improved School Award 2007
The winner is chosen according to the increase in old Yellow Pages directories recycled per pupil in the 2007 Challenge compared with the school’s result in the 2006 Challenge.
School 2007 – old YPs per pupil 2006 – old YPs per pupil Increase
Balallan School, Isle of Lewis 18.38 5.14 + 13.24
Yellow Woods Challenge
The Yellow Woods Challenge is run by Yellow Pages, working with the Woodland Trust and 101 local authorities across the UK. The campaign aims to recycle old Yellow Pages directories and save landfill; educate children about the environment and support the Woodland Trust's ‘Tree For All’ tree planting campaign.
Schools recycling the most Yellow Pages directories per pupil win cash prizes locally and nationally. In the Yellow Woods Challenge 2007, schools could also enter the UK Sculpture Competition and the UK Merit Awards, which had four categories: Most Promising Newcomer, Most Improved School, Community Involvement and Education in Action. For every pound Yellow Pages awards to schools in cash prizes, a matching pound is given to the Woodland Trust.
Nearly 2,300 schools were involved in the Yellow Woods Challenge 2007, recycling 733 tonnes of old Yellow Pages directories into brand new products.
For further details, visit: www.yellow-woods.co.uk, email: yellow.woods@yellgroup.com or call 0118 950 6724.
Yellow Pages
The paper used for Yellow Pages directories in the UK contains 51% recycled fibre plus wood fibres from forestry waste, sourced from sustainably managed forests in Finland. The paper is white and printed with a yellow colour wash. Old Yellow Pages directories can be recycled into cardboard, animal bedding, egg boxes, packaging and insulation materials and newsprint.
Yellow Pages directories are published by Yell, a leading international directories business operating in classified advertising markets in the UK, US, Spain and Latin America. Yell’s brands in the UK include: Yellow Pages, Yell.com and Yellow Pages 118 24 7.
Woodland Trust
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. It has 300,000 members and supporters. The Trust has four key aims: i) No further loss of ancient woodland; ii) Restoring and improving the biodiversity of woods; iii) Increasing new native woodland; iv) Increasing people’s understanding and enjoyment of woodland. Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres). Access to its sites is free. Further news can be found at www.woodland-trust.org.uk/yell
