Build your own rubbish bin on Earth Day

One of the biggest hazards to marine turtles is rubbish, so what better way to teach children about the environment and turtles than to make them think about what they do with their rubbish.

Escola Nova in Espargos, the capital of Sal had a problem with disposing of rubbish in the classrooms because of the lack of bins, so SOS organised a competition to get the kids to design and make their own bins using recycled materials.

A ceremony was held on Friday with judges from SOS Tartarugas, the Delegation for Education and the Peace Corps with the winners receiving a map of the world and some art & craft materials.

Only three grades were involved but this still meant 600 children!  Each bin had an environmental message written on it and a representative from each class came forward and described the materials used for their bins and explained the message.  The bins all showed a great level of creativity and imagination and choosing three winners was very difficult.

In the end the judges chose three bins based on the creative use of materials, while of course our favourites were those that incorporated turtles in the design!