Pupils' artwork raises awareness of plastic problem

Schools from across Scotland entered the competition, run in conjunction with Keep Scotland Beautiful, which encouraged pupils to think creatively about how 80 per cent of litter in the world’s oceans comes from land and to design an exhibit and present their research findings on the subject in a report.

Braidwood Primary School’s winning entry was a canvas called ‘The Lazy Human’ which highlighted how litter can travel from humans and end up harming wildlife.

Gillian Anderson, a class teacher at the school, said the project had begun with a discussion among the pupils about plastic pollution.

She said: “I was very impressed with how engaged the pupils were in reducing and recycling plastic. I was pleased to see that pupils are more conscious about the use of plastics and littering.”

Liz Gunn, Blair Drummond marketing manager, also said entries to the competition were of a high standard.

She added: “It’s clear that the young people who took part in the competition are concerned by the effect that plastic has on our marine life, and they have demonstrated that they can influence changes to improve the situation.

“A lot of very positive action has come from this competition.

Keep Scotland Beautiful selected four entries to form part of the exhibit and Braidwood was highly commended for its submission, reciving free entry to the park to see the artwork in place.

Catherine Gee, Keep Scotland Beautiful, finance and corporate services director, said: “I would like to congratulate the pupils from Braidwood Primary School for their outstanding entry.

“All of the exhibits have managed to capture the problem and present solutions in a creative and engaging way.

“I hope that all visitors will be able to enjoy the exhibits and further raise awareness of the sheer scale of Scotland’s litter problem.”