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Six Surrey schools have been awarded a total of £6,000 as part of an environmental scheme.

The Rethink Waste initiative is run by Surrey Environment Partnership (SEP) which aims at encouraging households to cut waste.

The prize money will fund various environmental projects at the winning schools, including building a home for school guinea pigs, installing a green roof and purchasing litter picking equipment.

So far, 32 schools across Surrey have joined the scheme and a further 15 primary schools have already signed up.

Katharine Kothe, a teacher at Furzefield Primary School, in Redhill, said: “Rethink Waste was a fantastic way to get our wider school community involved in choosing to follow a more environmentally friendly lifestyle.

“The emails and support for teachers behind the scenes were wonderful, as was the competition element as it helped us strive to be number one.”

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