LAST week saw Eco Ayrshire gift trees to both Barassie and Troon Primary schools as a thank you for their efforts in the challenge set to them last August.

They were asked to join the TerraCycle crisp packet recycling scheme and the children stepped up and are doing a great job.

Troon Primary have saved more than 4,000 packets from landfill. Lynda Hardman from Eco Ayrshire said: “Our mission is to encourage people to take steps today to sustain tomorrow and believe collective small changes can make a huge impact.

"Where better to try to collect crisp packets from going in the bin than local schools.

"They require a specialist facility to recycle them, which we do not have access to via South Ayrshire Council, so they go in our general waste bins and end up in landfill, taking up to 80 years to break down.”

TerraCycle offers free programmes funded by conscientious companies to process hard-to recycle waste, they even turned recycled crisp packets into casual shoes, amongst other things!

Although initially challenged to collect crisp packets, there has been a knock-on effect in the schools to become even more environmentally conscious.

Barassie Primary have moved away from single-use plastic cups at school events, such as discos, saving around 300 plastic cups from being wasted at each event.

As a reward for their efforts, pupils from both schools were invited to the Scottish Parliament.