Sophia McLachlan of the town’s St Anthony’s Primary School is the winner of the first-ever Litter Awareness and Prevention poster competition run by South Lanarkshire Council. 

Her colourful and clever design, with the message ‘Help earth get fitter by binning your litter’, has won her a £100 prize, as well as the opportunity to have her poster on display in every primary school in South Lanarkshire.

Three runners-up were also chosen from the hundreds of entries received over the last few months from children in P4-7 across the council’s 124 primary schools. Finn Canning, P6, Bothwell Primary School; Amy Ferguson, P6, High Mill Primary School, Carluke and Aaron McCormack, P7, Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School, East Kilbride, have all won a certificate of merit and a £25 prize. 

The competition was inspired by the messaging of COP26 and led by the council’s Grounds Services team and the authority’s Youth Forum on Climate Change and Sustainability, who also had the difficult job of choosing the winners. 

All P4-P7 children in South Lanarkshire primary schools were invited to submit their poster designs with the brief of highlighting litter awareness and prevention or of changing behaviour on littering. 

Said David Booth, Executive Director of Community and Enterprise Resources: “COP26 in Glasgow inspired so many of us to focus on the need to act now – and to do so together – to make a difference to protect our planet. 

“Young people, in particular, have stepped up and spoken up as one voice, and it’s a voice we all need to hear. I am grateful to our Youth Forum, who worked closely with council staff to devise and organise this competition.  

“The quality of entries was very impressive and showed us that our youngest citizens are alert to, and aware of, the actions we can all take to make a difference. Congratulations to Sophia and our runners-up as well as all who took part. I’m just relieved I did not have the unenviable task of choosing a winner.”

For information on the council's anti-litter strategy, details on support we can give for community clean-ups and details on how to report littering and fly-tipping in your neighbourhood, have a look at our website.