THE children of Okehampton Primary School are celebrating after being named regional champions in the Total Green School Awards for the second year in a row. Their project 'The Perils of Plastic' not only took top spot in the 'Totally Clued Up' category across Wales and western England, but was also declared the best project in all categories from the entire region, making it the regional champion for 2014. The Total Green School Awards is a nationwide competition for five to eleven year olds, which is run by the Young People's Trust for the Environment (YPTE) in partnership with Total. The competition, which aims to generate interest in the environment and raise awareness of the need for sustainable energy sources, has received entries from more than 35,000 school children this year. Okehampton children carried out thorough research into plastic waste and how it is impacting upon the planet. They found out about the threat posed by plastic bags to sea creatures like turtles and were horrified to learn about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch — two vast areas of floating plastic waste twice the size of France — on the surface of the Pacific Ocean, which in places is up to 10 metres deep. They thought creatively about how plastic rubbish could be turned into something useful, making artworks using plastic bags and even weaving re-usable shopping bags and clothing using yarn made from strips of plastic carrier bags. Frances Rickwood, the school's eco schools co-ordinator, said: 'Taking part in this year's Total Green School Award has allowed us to draw our next two eco school topics together and plan our plastic project. Having the focus of applying for the Total Green School Award has helped us to think creatively, work collaboratively with new audiences and empower many of our pupils. 'We have thoroughly enjoyed following the many unexpected directions that our TGSA journey has taken us and we are also looking forward to seeing where we will go next with our on-going plastic project.' Thirty children representing the school will be joining other regional champions at the national awards ceremony at London Zoo later this month. All of the regional winners will receive a specially commissioned trophy and a cheque for £1,000 to put towards their school funds. The UK champions — to be chosen from the regional champions and announced at the awards ceremony — will receive a total of £5,000 for their school funds. YPTE Director, Peter Littlewood, said: "This is just what we want to see in the Total Green School Awards — a fantastic amount of learning, combined with practical application of that new knowledge. 'The children have learned so much about how and why plastic can present a danger to wildlife and have come up with some great solutions to some of the problems. 'Their recycled shopping bags and clothing look fantastic and it's great to see how everyone at the school has got involved. 'This kind of learning has already been passed on to the children's families and will hopefully affect some of their decision making as adults to the benefit of the environment.'