During Bodmin’s annual St Piran’s Day celebrations, in March, children receive a pasty and a bottle of water for lunch.
But when it came to planning the 2023 event, the question was asked: “Could something be done to provide an alternative to single-use water bottles?”
It was decided to source reusable bottles, while challenging the town's children to design a fantastic graphic with a powerful message, to go on the bottle. Plastic Free Bodmin (PFB), Bodmin Way and Bodmin Life set up a logo design competition, with the cost of the bottles, design and prizes covered by sole sponsor Proper Cornish.
PFB has received Plastic Free Community Status for Bodmin. Beth Woolley, Plastic Free Bodmin Lead, said: “The project provides a great opportunity to explore and extend children’s understanding of sustainability, their environment and the role they can play to participate in and enact positive change within their community.
”Giving children a reusable water bottle helps highlight and reduce the amount of disposable plastic waste used at community events.”
The competition’s themes, ‘What I love about Cornwall’, ‘What interests me about the natural world’ and ‘Ways to protect the environment’, inspired more than 50 children to design a logo.
Russell Becker, of Rocket Pixels (rocketpixels.co.uk), agreed to incorporate the winning design on to 400 bottles and plastic free art-based prizes have been awarded for the winning entry and runners up.
First place is a design by 11-year-old Merix Robins. Bodmin Life caught up with him at the PFB stall in Bodmin’s Market. Merix said it took him quite a while to complete his design. He had the idea of drawing a beach strewn with rubbish and a message ‘Keep It Clean’. This proved too tricky, so he changed his mind and created an acrostic within a St Piran’s flag, with the same message. When asked what inspired his final design, Merix said: “It popped into my head, as Cornwall is a good place to come, with loads of wildlife and nice people.”
Second place went to Arthur Buck with Brooklyn Francis awarded third place.
A special thank you is given to every child who submitted an entry.