After a tour of the studio, our senior designer David gave Abby an introduction to what goes into creating a great design, including how you can make it work across different formats.

Next, he showed her a few examples of what they could do with her image to really bring it to life, for example, adding colour to make different elements stand out. After experimenting with a couple of different styles, Abby settled on a final look for “Wool you renew?”, which we will be unveiling soon, so keep an eye out for updates!

Finally, David handed over the reins of his design station to Abby for her to create her own flag and castle, putting everything she’d learnt into practice.

After a morning hard at work, we treated her to a well-earned lunch at Pizza Express with her dad.

Abby's flag and castle

Safe to say, Abby proved to be a bit of a natural in the design studio and told us afterwards “it was so exciting to work with the professionals! I had an amazing time, and I’m going to put my £100 prize money towards buying a tablet like the ones that they use so I can keep practising.”

We can’t wait to show you the final design – in the mean time, do check out our Tree-Vital Pursuits quiz for a chance to win some great prizes!

The Renewable Idea team

Abby Bowmar, aged 9, from Darvel Primary School in Scotland, with ‘Wool You Renew’!

The competition was tough in the final leg and the judges were really impressed with all of our finalists’ designs. After much deliberation, Abby’s entry was selected to be our winner.

Congratulations to Abby and a big thank you to all of our entrants and everyone who voted for their favourites along the way! The shortlisted entries will remain on the site here, for you to browse and share.

Abby will now work with professional designers to put some finishing touches onto her image, and we will be unveiling the final design soon, so do check back for updates!

There is only one week left to vote for your favourite entry in the Design an Image competition!

Our shortlist

The entries with the most votes will be put through to the final on March 5^th to be judged by our expert panel. The winner will receive £100 for themselves and £2,000 for their school to spend on an environmental project! Their image will also be used by Tetra Pak and WWF-UK in future campaigns to promote the importance of renewable resources.

Don’t forget, you can vote once every day, and each vote adds points to our donation counter , helping raise vital funds for WWF-UK.

Voting will close at 23.59 01 March 2012.

The Renewable Idea team

These images have now been uploaded to the website here, and it’s time for you to vote for your favourite!

Voting is easy – all you need to do is:

1. Visit the voting page and click on the map to see the entries from each region
2. Enter your name and email address, then click on the ‘vote for me’ button by the entry that you want to be put through to the final judging panel round
3. Share with your friends by using the “Like” button and get them involved.

You can vote for entries from your area or in different regions if you wish, so have a look around and if something catches your eye, don’t hesitate to come back – you can vote once per day. Every vote also generates more points on our donation counter, helping to raise vital funds for WWF’s forest conservation work!

Voting will close at 23.59 on the 01 March 2012. The entry from each region with the most votes will be put to our expert panel of judges in March 2012 to decide the final winner.

Good luck to our semi-finalists!

The Renewable Idea team

However, we have heard from some teachers and parents that they would appreciate a little more time to complete their forms – especially over the Christmas holidays. Therefore, we have decided to extend the deadline and will now be accepting entries until Monday 23^rd January. Subsequently, a shortlist will be posted on the website for you to vote on.

So if you haven’t entered yet, do click here to find out more about the competition and download the materials you need to get you started. The winner will receive £100 for themselves and £2,000 for their school* to spend on an environmental project!

Good luck!

The Renewable Idea team

* This prize is available for entries from schools. Parents who would like to enter their children separately will still be eligible for the £100 prize, but should include the name, address, nominated teacher and contact email address for the school on the entry form to be eligible for £2,000 prize.

A Robin in winter

Food

In winter, food is in short supply. Birds lose around 10% of their body weight when the nights are cold and need food to replace this and give them energy to go about their daily business. Having some bird-friendly plants in your garden is a must – holly berries are particularly good for our feathered friends, as are crab apples, hawthorn and honeysuckle.

It’s also a good idea to get a bird feeder as this allows birds to feed without threat of an attack from a predator. High-calorie seed mixes such as black sunflower seeds, sunflower hearts, sunflower-rich mixes or unsalted high-fat peanuts are ideal. For more tips on what to feed birds in winter, check out the RSPB’s website here.

Water

Water is essential for wildlife of all kinds, for bathing, drinking, breeding and spawning. Ponds are ideal, but if you don’t have one, a bird bath or a large bowl of water will be helpful for drinking and bathing.

As temperatures drop further, do watch out for the water freezing over. Although you must not use chemicals to stop it freezing, placing a light ball (like a ping-pong ball) in the water will help keep a small area ice-free as it is blown about by the breeze.

Shelter

Shrubs and other vegetation provide much-needed shelter (as well as being a source of food) for many kinds of animals. You can also stack some logs in a corner of the garden to provide shelter for animals and insects like hedgehogs and toads.

Nesting boxes for birds and bats are also a good idea whilst there are fewer trees around. The RSPB has a guide to making your own here. Keeping old or dead trees can also provide useful cavities for insects and bats to take refuge from the cold.

The Renewable Idea team

For those of you who don’t know, FSC is an international, non-governmental organisation dedicated to promoting responsible management of the world’s forests. When you see the FSC logo of certification on a wood-based product, it means that the wood used has been sourced from responsibly manage forests and other controlled sources, and you can be confident that you are contributing towards safeguarding the world’s forests.

In the lesson plans that we have created for the Design an Image competition, we introduce children to the concept of responsible forestry management and how, if looked after properly, wood is a great example of a natural, renewable resource.

For more information on FSC and responsible forestry management, visit their website: http://www.fsc-uk.org/?page_id=100

The Renewable Idea team

On the site, you will find supporting resources for schools and teachers (including lesson plans, fun ‘filler’ activities and an assembly idea), which we have developed with education professionals, to introduce this important subject and help pupils understand the impact our choices have on the natural environment.

The resources explore topics such as sustainable living, thinking global and acting local, and environmental poetry, as well as the importance of choosing goods and materials from renewable resources. All lesson plans link to elements of Key Stage two or three learning, within the National Curriculum. We also have information for parents and home educators who want to take part.

In December, the Renewable Idea team will select a shortlist of entries from each region, and these put to the public vote. The winning image will then be selected in January 2012 by a panel of judges and used by Tetra Pak and WWF-UK in future campaigns!

Good luck!

The Renewable Idea team

But before we start our big autumn clean it is really important to think about what we can recycle. Although the majority of us think recycling is important, research carried out by Tetra Pak reveals that our cleaning and tidying habits are not always as green as they could be.

The research found that although two thirds of us think we recycle as well as we can, over half of us admit to sometimes binning items we know can easily be recycled. The most common reason given for slipping-up on good habits was being in a rush or running late, but people also admitted that they sometimes bin recyclable rubbish when they are in a bedroom or bathroom and not as close to their recycling bags or boxes in the kitchen.

To help you and your family to recycle as much rubbish and clutter as possible we have put together a list of some of our favorite green cleaning tips. If you have any tips or ideas you would like to share, you can either post them to our Facebook page here, or tell us on Twitter (@renewableidea)

1.    The most important thing is to make some space for a recycle bin. To make it more interesting, why not get creative and decorate yours!

2.    Encourage your family to set up a temporary storage spot – that way if they are in a rush they can sort the recycling later, rather than throwing it all in the bin to save time.

3.    Put up a list with pictures on your fridge door to remind you of what you can recycle, such as juice cartons and newspapers.

4.    Check labels. When you’re out shopping with your parents, encourage them to look out for products, such as Tetra Pak food and juice cartons that have recycling symbols on the packaging, and try and get them to avoid non-recyclable goods where possible.

5.    When you are clearing out clutter think about what you can give to charity. Old toys for example, would be great to donate ahead of Christmas.

For more information on the report on recycling habits in the home, please visit www.tetrapakrecycling.co.uk

As always, if you have any more you would like to share, you can either post them to our Facebook page here, or tell us on Twitter (@renewableidea).

Also, if you make or do something that you’re really proud of, do let us know and we will Tweet your story and any photos.

1. Go bird watching

Our skies are home to many species of birds, and you can start to get to know them this summer. All you need is a pair of binoculars and a bird book to guide you. You can start anywhere; your garden, local park or nearby woods – but make sure you take an adult, and try to be quiet so you don’t scare them off!

Here are a few common ones to get you started:

Blue Tit

Blue Tit

Chaffinch

Chaffinch

House Sparrow

House Sparrow

2. Make a bird feeder from a carton

Making a bird feeder is a great way to encourage birds into your garden, and there is even a way to make one out of a used carton, which is good for the environment too!

You can find instructions to make a simple bird feeder from a carton here.

Once you’ve made it, you can find some more information on what food to fill it with here.

3. Make your own bird’s nest

Why not also make your own bird’s nest? These make great ornaments and are especially useful for storing things in!

You will need a mixture of manmade and natural materials – birds use both depending on what they come across. You will need to buy modelling clay, but then you can go outside and see what you can find. Here are a few ideas:

• Twigs
• Straw
• Leaves
• String/ yarn
• Lint

Once you’ve got your building materials together, shape the modelling clay into a bird’s nest and line the inside and outside of the nest with the things you collected.

Have fun!

The Renewable Idea team