Creative pupils ‘Make Art Not Waste’

A PUPIL from Coleraine High School has won an art competition organised by RiverRidge Recycling.

The competition now in its second year asks pupils to use recycled material in their creations.

Year 8 pupil Julia Chybowska created the winning piece of art, Funky Recycled LP Bag, from belts, old vinyl records, newspaper and hay, and was selected by the panel of judges as the most inspiring piece of work to be created from recycled objects.

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Julia, said, “I was really inspired by working with stuff that we would usually just throw away.

“The inspiration came from seeing old vinyl records in a charity shop and I immediately thought that they would be great for the sides of a bag. I’m really pleased with the way my recycled bag turned out.”

The Mayor of Coleraine, Councillor Sam Cole who helped judge the competition said, “It’s great to see young students get involved and in doing so learn how valuable waste is as a resource.

“The works of art show great promise and I’m pleased that our next generation is engaging in this matter. I was delighted to be asked to judge the entries and experience how much the students understand the importance of recycling, especially as Council has recycling targets which must be met each year set by Europe and central government.”

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Coleraine High School received £500 from RiverRidge Recycling and Julia has won £70 for herself and her artwork will be forwarded to the regional final where she is in with a chance of winning an iPad.

She will also be automatically entered into the Sustainable Ireland Awards 2013 – Most Inspiring Environmental Project by a Young Person, which will be held in September 2012.

Brett Ross, Managing Director of RiverRidge Recycling, based in Ringsend, said, “It is great to see how all the pupils took up the challenge of creating something that was not only visually impressive but also conveyed the reduce, reuse, recycle message. I’ve been really impressed by the effort of all the schoolchildren taking part.

“We are very much a local company committed to investing in the community and teaching future generations about the importance of reducing their waste. People need to understand that waste is actually a resource and rather than sending it landfill, which is both costly and unsustainable, we should be doing as much as possible to recycle, reduce and reuse.”

The competition, along with media partner Sustainable Ireland, saw pupils from Ballymena, Ballymoney, Coleraine, Limavady, Londonderry, Magherafelt and Moyle council areas take part.

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