PRESS RELEASE - Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
27 June 2007

Money grows for trees in Yellow Pages directory recycling campaign

Yellow Woods Challenge 2007

Schoolchildren across the Western Isles have scored a double jackpot simply by recycling old Yellow Pages directories - winning hundreds of pounds for their schools and raising enough money to plant and care for 70 native trees in Scotland.

Forty one schools recently took on the Yellow Woods Challenge – the simple, educational and fun environmental campaign for schools run by Yellow Pages, working with the Woodland Trust and the Waste Aware Western Isles Team, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar.

The schools had fun competing against each other, recycling a total of 4,010 old Yellow Pages directories.  Balallan School triumphed in the competition, recycling a fantastic 18.38 old Yellow Pages directories per pupil to take the ‘Gold Oak’ title and win £300.  Carloway Primary School has been named the ‘Silver Birch’ winner and receives £200, while Shelibost Primary School has been rewarded with £100 and the ‘Bronze Beech’ title. 

Yellow Pages has also awarded Stornoway Primary School a bonus £100 prize for collecting 686 old Yellow Pages directories, the most in total in this year’s local competition.

Richard Duggleby, head of external relations at Yell – the publisher of Yellow Pages directories, said: “For every pound we award to schools for recycling old Yellow Pages directories, we give a matching pound to the Woodland Trust. Thanks to the recycling efforts of residents and schools in the Western Isles, that’s another £700 raised for the Trust.”*

The Woodland Trust will use the money to support its ‘Tree For All’ campaign – the most ambitious children’s tree-planting project ever launched in the UK.

Janice Hix, corporate partnerships manager with the Woodland Trust, said: “This is a very valuable contribution towards our goal. We’re hoping to raise enough money through the Yellow Woods Challenge this year to plant and care for more than five hectares of native woodland – an area as big as 13 football pitches.
 
“Woodland is Scotland’s richest wildlife habitat and offers benefits for the environment, for people and for communities. Tree planting is really important as we are one of the least wooded countries in Europe.”**

The local competition has now closed, but the schools have several more chances to win thousands of pounds in the national competition for their recycling, environmental education, community involvement and sculpture building efforts.

Sharon Mackinnon, community waste awareness officer at the Waste Aware Team, said: “This has been a fantastic competition with just over three tonnes of old directories recycled into compost at the Creed Recycling Plant. I congratulate our schools for their achievements locally and wish them all the best of luck in the national competition.”