Youngster bags prizes for winning design

A Chorlton High School pupil has won a competition to design an eco-friendly reusable bag.

Year eight pupil Kael Oakley was among dozens of budding designers who entered the competition, set up by Manchester City Council to encourage shoppers to avoid single-use plastic carriers and start using natural fibre re-usable bags instead.

Councillor Eddy Newman, Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services, will visit the school on Friday to reward the youngster with a hamper full of Fair Trade and recycled products such as a football, chocolate and a beanie hat.

The contest was part of the City Council's 100 Days environmental campaign and ran alongside an event in which Chorlton shops collected pledges from people to stop using single-use plastic carriers.

Kael's design, showing bags 'growing' out of a tree, will now be used on environmentally friendly jute bags which will be handed out at 100 Days events in Chorlton and given to those shops which collected pledges.

Cllr Newman said: "The competition received some excellent entries, but we felt that Kael's design summed up the message perfectly.

"This has been a good way of encouraging the public to think about the environmental impact of plastic carriers and promote the use of natural fibre bags."

Media contact:

Conrad Astley, tel 0161 234 4027

Manchester City Council launched Challenge Manchester - 100 Days to a cleaner, greener city 2008 on February 14 2008 at Manchester Town Hall.

The campaign will run until 24 May 2008, featuring 100 days of intense activity all over Manchester with the first 50 days focussing on green issues - primarily waste minimisation, recycling and climate change - and the next 50 days focussing on community clean-ups, local environmental improvements and planting schemes.

The council will also be asking residents and businesses about what they want the council to do to help them minimise waste and recycle more.

Challenge Manchester began in 2004 with "Challenge Manchester: 100 Days to a Clean City", and in its fifth successful year the campaign returns to its core aim to "clean up" the city.

More information about Challenge Manchester and how you can participate appears on our website http://www.challengemanchester.co.uk/

 You can also e-mail campaigns.team@manchester.gov.uk

or telephone 0161 954 9000.