A PICTURE drawn by an eight-year-old schoolgirl is now adorning a refuse collection vehicle, after she won a competition designed to promote the importance of recycling in the Harrogate district.
Lilly Wallis’ picture of five recycling characters was judged to the best of over 600 entries received in the competition run by Harrogate Borough Council and Yorwaste.
The eight-year-old, who goes to Killinghall Church of England Primary School, was presented with her prize, a mini iPad, this week and she also got to see how her drawing looks on the vehicle when it turned up at her school.
Lilly Wallis said: It is very exciting to have won the competition and to have been given a prize of a mini iPad. I am also really looking forward to seeing my picture on the side of the lorry as it drives around Harrogate. Recycling is very important and I always do all I can at home and at school to recycle as much as possible.
The competition was organised to coincide with a contract Yorwaste has with Harrogate Borough Council to process and sell recyclable material – cans, paper, glass, plastic bottles card/cereal boxes – collected from kerbsides as part of the council’s improved recycling service.
Every primary school in Harrogate was invited to enter the competition, with the brief of drawing and colouring a picture related to recycling and the environment.
Councillor Phil Ireland, Harrogate Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for the Environment, said: I would like to congratulate Lilly on her magnificent drawing. We were inundated with entries from schools across the district, and while it was very difficult to choose one winner, Lilly’s colourful drawing really brings the concept of recycling to life.
More and more people are embracing the idea of recycling. Over the last year the amount of domestic recycling across the district has reached record levels. This is not only helping us to protect the environment by reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill, it is also allowing the council to save money by reducing the landfill costs and taxes we have to pay, which ultimately means we can invest the savings in other much needed services.
Lilly’s eye catching drawing looks fantastic on the side of our refuse collection vehicle, really seizes the imagination, and will hopefully encourage even more people to recycle.
Yorwaste Managing Director Steve Grieve said: We were very impressed by Lilly’s drawing and think it looks fantastic on the refuse collection vehicle.
Aside from being fun, one of the main aims of the competition was to promote the importance of recycling and by targeting primary school children we have reached out to a group that will play a crucial part in protecting the environment in years to come.
Sarah Bassitt, Head Teacher at Killinghall Church of England Primary School said: As an eco school we try to get the children as involved as possible in all aspects of recycling. This competition gave us another opportunity to engage the children in thinking about their own environment. Obviously, we are all excited that Lilly’s design won.
