PUPILS from a South Lakes school have been busy gathering crisp packets as part of an initiative to ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’.

Boys and girls from Penny Bridge Church Of England Primary Academy have managed to collected around 2,500 crisp packets in just a couple of months.

The packets are then sent to a factory where they have been recycled into useful objects such as garden furniture.

The Mail’s Big Clean campaign, run in conjunction with The Westmorland Gazette, aims to encourage local communities to take pride in the areas where they live.

Diana Rutherford, the eco co-ordinator at the school who has been leading the project, said that the students have been busy in raising awareness about the ecological issues society faces on a local and global scale.

“As a school we help the pupils develop and expand their ideas so they gain in confidence and can involve their families, friends and the local community,” she said.

“We have had a busy year and many activities have started, such as tree planting, bird box building, work on water purity, and litter picking.”

Sponsored by Kimberly Clark, Spirit Energy and South Lakeland District Council, the Big Clean appeal has called upon schools, community groups, individuals and local businesses to do what they can to clear up any litter strewn patches of land.

This could be helping to clean a park that is starting to look messy. or it might be picking up items that have been carelessly discarded.

“As their knowledge grows the pupils become more determined to try to help the world. We are very proud to say our pupils are ‘ambassadors of today’ and ‘leaders of tomorrow’,” added the eco co-ordinator.

To get involved and organise your own litter pick email vanessa.sims@newsquest.co.uk.