Canned trees in aid of Malawi

Primary school children in Hailsham are being offered the chance to grow trees in cans as part of a nationwide recycling initiative — and help plant fruit trees in Malawi.
The scheme will see a fruit tree being planted for every tonne of aluminium recycled.

All aluminium recycled through kerbside collections and recycling banks in the Wealden area will be counted towards the project total.

Not-for-profit organisation Alupro is supporting the project which aims to plant 85,000 fruit trees in local community nurseries in the southern Africa country.

Around half the trees, such as guava and pawpaw, will be grown from seed and the remainder will be introduced orange, avocado and mango trees, which will be grafted on to wild rootstock at a new purpose built greenhouse at the charity Ripple Africa's Malawian base.

Local schools are being encouraged to register with Alupro to receive the free tree growing kit which contains everything needed to grow silver birch
saplings to plant at school, along with educational materials linked to recycling, lifecycles and the African project.

Schools are also being offered the chance to make a DVD about how they look after their environment to exchange with a Malawian school.

The first prize for the best film is a trip for the class teacher to visit the project in Malawi.

Every school that enters the competition will win a £20 voucher to spend making improvements to their school's environment.

To find out more about the Fruit Trees for Malawi campaign or the free primary schools kit and competition please call 0845 722 7722 or visit the website, www.alupro.org.uk