Five Devon primary school pupils have been recognised in a short story competition about waste and recycling.
Their success coincides with National Storytelling Week this wek (31 January to 8 February which aims to highlights the power of stories and oral storytelling to inspire, connect and entertain people of all ages.
Pupils across Devon aged between 7 and 14 were invited to write a 500 word story, including illustrations, between September 2024 and July 2025.
The judging panel from Devon County Council’s Waste Education team and Devon School Library Service read over 80 entries and were impressed by the creativity and understanding of waste issues shown by the young authors.
Joint first place was awarded to Monty from Bradninch, for ‘The Rubbish Alien’ and Thomas from Appledore for ‘Kong’s Machine’.
Runner up places were awarded to Storm from Kingsbridge for ‘Speedy the Snail’ and Ralph from Kentisbeare for ‘Scoogles’.
Special mention went to Oscar from Kingsbridge for a poem about recycling.
All stories had to be based on the topic of waste and recycling, which could include plastic pollution, composting, reducing, reusing or even the children’s book character ‘Bonster the Hungry Monster’, who is currently visiting Devon schools and encouraging families to use their food waste collections.
The five pupils will be awarded prizes, sponsored by Suez, in a series of assemblies at their schools in December.
The joint winners will receive a £50 book token, and runners up a £10 book token. All prize winners will also receive a Recycle Devon Goody Bag containing a water bottle, pencil and pencil sharpener, and a framed certificate.
All the stories can be read here on Devon’s waste education website, The Zone.
Councillor Jacqi Hodgson, Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Biodiversity, said:
“A big thankyou to everyone who entered this competition and sent in their wonderful stories.It’s great to see so many young people entered the Waste Education Short Story Competition and huge congratulations to all the winners and runners up.
“The stories show how engaged young people are with sustainability issues and have lots of great creative ideas around reducing waste. Research shows that when children are engaged in environmental issues, they develop a strong sense of responsibility and are more likely to engage in pro-environmental behaviours as they grow older.”
For information and advice about reducing, reusing and recycling, visit www.recycledevon.org.