BUDDING young authors from Okehampton Primary School have collaborated with seven other schools across the UK to write a recycling adventure story to promote the importance of recycling old electrical goods.

The fun, educational initiative is part of a new recycling responsibility campaign put forward by REPIC, a not-for-profit organisation which runs a waste electrical and electronic equipment recycling scheme.

Each participating school was asked to write a chapter, before passing it on to the next school to add to the story which had the titled ‘A Most Unexpected Day at the Recycling Plant’.

Over 250 Year 4 and Year 5 primary school pupils and their teachers took part in the creative writing project, which plotted the adventures of REPIC’s mascots, R3P1C, a robot made out of old electrical products, and his battery sidekick Amp.

On a mission to rescue Amp after he’s thrown into a strange portal, R3P1C is sent on a journey through ECO-World where he meets imaginative characters like Doctor Waste, Mr and Mrs Eco, and The Fridge Monster.

The finished book has been brought to life with illustrations by artist Tom Nicklin, and printed copies of the book have been given to each child who took part.

Fran Rickwood, Eco School Co-ordinator for Okehampton primary, said: ‘We were thrilled to be invited to contribute to the REPIC storybook as it helps to reinforce our eco journey. It also helps our pupils to appreciate that environmental learning is for everyone, not just children.

‘Being invited to contribute to a national environmental project is always empowering for our pupils and brings new experiences to their colourful curricular learning.

‘The children were so excited to see their ideas printed on the pages of a book and couldn’t wait to read the finished printed version.’

Dr Philip Morton, CEO of REPIC, said: ‘The “pass it on” story writing was a highly engaging way to get children to think about recycling and share key messages with their friends, parents and carers.

‘We’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching the story develop — the level of creativity has been outstanding and we would like to thank the teachers for getting involved and inspiring the children.

‘Our Responsible Recycling campaigns are all designed to increase consumer awareness, as we find that people generally want to do the right thing when it comes to recycling once they know how.’