Esher Church School has been awarded a prize of over £400 for winning a competition as part of a waste reduction scheme in Elmbridge. The school will use the prize money on a project that will lead to more recycling in the school.
 

The competition was part of Rethink Waste, a trial scheme that is aiming to reduce the amount of waste produced in Elmbridge. Residents who sign up carry out activities to help them reduce waste and win points for doing so. The competition saw schools in Elmbridge compete for points to be donated to them.
 

Rethink Waste members donated over 90,000 points as part of the competition, 37,745 of which were donated to Esher Church School, earning the school £419. It will use the money to develop its recycling and waste reduction facilities, which includes enhancing its recycling area in front of the school and installing a cover with a wildflower green roof. The school’s aim is to have all its pupils confident in what they can and can’t recycle.
 

Helen Brotherton, a teacher at Esher Church Primary School, said: “We are so proud of how our school community has come together at ECS to support our Eco action through Green Redeem. The scheme is such a fantastic way for us to not only encourage and inform the community of how they can make simple changes to their everyday behaviour to become more eco-friendly, but the money that the scheme has donated to our school is going to be used to develop a new recycling area complete with a wildflower green roof along with new recycling bins for our playground areas.”
 

Five schools (Esher Church School, Bell Farm Primary School, Cleves School, St James C Of E Primary School and St Matthews Infant School) took part in the programme and received a share of the £1,000 funding based on the number of points they received. Other projects that will be funded using prize money include ones to improve compost and food waste recycling facilities, buy gardening equipment for children to work on a school allotment and help forest school areas flourish.
 

The competition follows the success of an earlier one as part of Rethink Waste that saw Grovelands Primary School in Walton-on-Thames win £846.88. Using the money, the school has prepared its outdoor area and ordered new classroom planters in preparation to grow fruit and vegetables.
 

Councillor Tilling, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services at Elmbridge Borough Council said: “This scheme is once more a huge success in the local community, encouraging children and parents to reduce waste. It’s great to see results in helping the the environment as well as supporting local schools with eco projects.”

Rethink Waste is being delivered by Greenredeem, funded by the Surrey Environment Partnership and supported by Elmbridge Borough Council.

Rethink Waste is open to all residents in Elmbridge and is free to join. To find out more, head to Greenredeem.