The eco-friendly ultra-green
WINNERS
are here

Let's Recycle Grandad
Poems chosen by Roger Stevens
(pub. A&C Black)

A brand new collection of poems - scary, silly, funny and rude - chosen by Roger Stevens. As well as brand new verses from the best poets around there are some old favourites - all environmentally friendly and recycled for your reading pleasure. To find out more or to order the book from amazon click here.

The standard of this competition was very high - so well done everyone who entered. The ten winners will each receive a copy of the book. Below are the winners and the best runners-up. Well done to them too.
Your books should arrive before Christmas. If for any reason your book doesn't arrive please email me at our usual address.

Watch our for a new competition in January.

Can We Understand by Max Och (aged 12)

Can we understand?
That our ice caps are melting
And our earth will flood.

Animals extinct
Yet we don't pay attention
They'll soon all be gone.

In the close future
We'll see polar bears floating
On fragments of ice.

We wish to see change
Strings hold the earth from collapse:
Our environment.

Global Warming by Laszlo Gut (aged 12)

Every day I see in the news
On my sofa, sitting confused
Watching documentaries of Global Warming
They are showing us, telling us the warning

Everyday I see polar bears swimming
Because all their homes are melting
It makes you feel bad for the bears
The problem is still glaring

All the pollution in Paris, London, New York, Beijing, is amazing
To see how people don't care about the world, and it is so old!!!

I think if everyone teams up
The world will change and continue to bloom
Less pollution will be better for us
Stop driving our cars and let's all get the bus

Or even better WALK!

Don't Forget to Smile by Carla Beshara (aged 12)

Your smooth green hair, we paved over
We stopped it from growing long and wild
Your shining eyes, one silver one golden
They gave us guidance, something to live for,
So we shot them from view

I guess your blue canvas dotted with streams of cotton
Weren't satisfying, so we made our own wisps of sorrow
And the magical symphonies sung, all throughout the day
They came from you didn't they? Do you like our orchestra?
Our sirens and screams and songs from hell?

How you accessorized, with those colors and fragrances,
Is simply a beautiful thing
Such a sight to see, I'm sorry you had to lose so much of it
I still wonder how you produce such amazing things,
Just for them to be under denomination by our cruel ways

I wish we could start anew
And bring back the days that were once forgotten
To relive what our ancestors once endured
To relive the beauty you once owned and shared
And bring you back from your grave

I wish my fingers could shine down golden rays of light,
Like how your glimmering fingers do
So I could shine them up to you for a change
And bring you back to us once more
And when or if that happens, a word of advice: don't forget to smile

Eco Poem by Victoria Paget (aged 12)

Tomorrow the walking ball of fluff will be gone
Demain the slimy sheet with a stinging tail will have disappeared
Manana the silent creature in chain mail will be obliterated
Ming tian the king of all beasts will be destroyed
Asta the kites and gliders that are full of life will have fallen
Amanha the huge family of buzzing workers will have died
Morgen our closest cousins will have ran away
Domain the colour changing birds will be lost
Saftra the most stubborn yet gentle of horses will have come to an end
All these things we will give up sacrifice and offer for an immense profit of…
A hollow feeling
A sigh of guilt
Guilt from the fact that you just stood and watched
or that you just realised too late.
An empty plant
A miserable silence
A ruined future for all
That is all that will be gained…

Languages used for tomorrow: English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, German, Italian and Russian

Animals: Polar Bear, Sting ray, Fish, Lion, Birds, Bees, Chimps, Flamingos and Donkeys.

The Cloud by Ashley Gosnell (aged 12)

A black cloud covers us.
It covers us in darkness.
A cold dark feeling it leaves.
Yet it is not there.
Keeping us trapped.
It swirls us into nothing.
Our world may seem worthy.
But we do not know.
The cloud is invisible.
Taking the breath out of you
And tearing the lives of
the ones you love, apart.
Left untreated it will harm us all.
It well it us from the inside out.
So what you can't see, can hurt you.

Eco Fiend by Elia Dolan (aged 11)

Day by day, night by night, I watch this world
fade slowly out of sight.
The once crystal clear canal has turned to black rot,
now junk-filled seas are all we've got.
Bad-mouthed people jeer at coloured skin,
while the sound of dropping litter makes a
distant din
I see this world coming to an abrupt end, what
with litter and eco-fiend?
War is raging and animals disappear,
looking at this problem
I am filled with fear.

The Effect of Global Warming by Alexandra Romanczuk

One day a child walked up to me
"Excuse me, ma'm, what is a tree?"
I told him that years ago tall plants dotted the horizon
Alas, he did not understand!
And I could not explain..
And so the curious boy looked up at me and smiled
"I learned in school today that the sky used to be blue not gray."
"Ma'm, why is it not so today?"'
I looked at his cherubic face
How could I disappoint this tyke..
And tell him that it was the fault of human kind..
He asked about the forests and extinct creatures and touched on the poles
And just as we were speaking
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM !
The last glacier fell into the sea
It fell pulling half of the last city on earth with it
And, alas, me
This is global warming
This is the work of humanity

The Tree by Emily Ashton

You see
I see
We all see
The green tree

You see
I see
We all see
The polluted tree

You see
I see
We all see
The dying tree

You see
I see
We all see
No tree

Rubbish on the Beach by Melanie Lynch

The froth of the mouth of the tide sweeps soundlessly in and out.
The rubbish rushes in and unnatural clumps of waste clutters the beach
A seagull limps helplessly around with a plastic bag attached to his foot
Plastic tabs and broken glass are strewn carelessly on this tip of a beach

For one moment the rubbish disappears when the tide comes in
And makes the rocks glisten with joy.
Then the tide goes out
And the beach becomes a forgotten dump once again.

This beach is never sandy
This beach is never clean
This beach is just a wasteland
Of scattered magazines

Rin Tin Tin by Agata Grudzinska (aged 11)

In the far deep end
Of a big brown bin
Lay a piece of paper
Named Rin Tin Tin
Among the leaves
Big and thin
It was all wrinkly
Poor little thing
It landed in the wrong bin
The paper somehow found a way out
And set out on a journey to the south
His little voyage was very dangerous
Lots of cats and dogs
Puddles and logs
But he didn't lose hope
He was doing quite well at first
But then
SPLASH!!!
He fall in a muddy puddle
And getting up
Was a bit of a struggle!
Then he met a dog
In the horrid fog
It chased Rin Tin Tin
All over town
But then it gave up
And left Rin Tin Tin to slog
But after many years
And Trouble and fear
He found his home
The paper bin
And later some people took him away
So he could be recycled and made into a book
And now he sits on a bookshelf
With all the other books
And he's the happiest he's ever been!
Now the other trees are still standing tall
Not being cut down
Waving their leaves
In the warm summer fall

The runners up.
No prize I'm afraid but a big, huge, green cheer.
Hurrah!!!!!

Recycle by Sam Fraser

Reflect on what we could have had,
Everything now seems so hectic, so mad.
Yesterday seemed oh so clear,
Care free, without fear.
Life will never be the same,
Earth is damaged, this is no game!

What Happened to the World? by Sachin Joshi (aged 12)

Wow, morning was rough
Bush my teeth, take a shower
Grab my cap
Open the door to see my old and dusty street
Even cars trying to park are starting to retreat
At least the plants blossomed
and brought some joy
We can all enjoy

When we take a look around
See the dogs and birds chirping
And the trees are singing,
When the environment is like
A tree growing and growing
And stopped growing and fell down and
Try to start all over again

We failed

Take a stroll in the park
Play some games
Just going insane
Until the very, very end when we fall the world stops
Woke up in the sky falling and falling
Fell down hard
Wake up to surgeons brushing my face
Turned out to be squirrels and ran without a trace

The environment is great
But it's also sort of ruined
When the animals mate
And with the toxic fluids

When we take a look around
See the dogs and birds chirping
And the trees are singing,
When the environment is like
A tree growing and growing
And stopped growing and fell down and
Try to start all over again

The world is going,
Going…………GONE

Environment Haiku by Einar Jonsson (aged 12)

Something beautiful
Why kill it? Why destroy it?
You know it's wrong. Stop!

Different colors
Red, blue, pink, purple and more
So many flowers

The bright green glimmer
Could it be a tree or grass?
It's all pretty though

Strawberries by Paulina Davey (aged 12)

"She came through the bathroom" while we were getting ready on the "magic bus", to make our way to the "strawberry fields" "across the universe.

The bumpy ride makes me queasy
But the feeling in the air is uneasy.

Day in and day out I'm on this bus,
Watching the black smoke follow us

The blue skies disappear, as the rain starts to fall
Drops of rain gather on the tree leaves so tall.

Mentality caresses looking out this stained window,
Thinking back to when my mother became a widow.

As the red strawberries start to appear
The red enters my mind with no tear.

My heart feels torn and ripped apart,
As the world around us moves on?

This Old Tall Man by Agata Grudzinska (aged 11)

This old tall man
Had some big pants
But he wasn't sure what to put them in
So he chucked them in
The garden waste bin

His young tiny wife
Had some paper
But she wasn't sure what to put it in
So she mixed it with some plastic
Till she was all elastic

They both had a daughter
But she had a problem
Her parents just didn't know how to recycle
So she had to teach them
But it wasn't as easy as learning how to cycle

So she taught them and taught them
Right from the start
How to recycle
And be a big star
And her hard work paid off
Now the trees are still standing tall
Not being cut down
Waving their leaves
In the warm summer fall

The World by Adrien Heylen

How is the world going to look,
Water all around, everybody dead,
Garbage everywhere, so hot you couldn't
Even breathe,
You really want it to be like that,
No, do something, rebel, stop consuming,
Killing animals, destructing nature,
Making the world a massive garbage!
Think about your children or even yourself,
Are you going to have to repair it
Or even endure it!
This cannot be happening we can't keep
On going like that.
We need to act.
MAKE A REVOLUTION!

It's Easier Said than Done by Miles Bernhard (aged 12)

Plant trees not factories
Help stop disease and injuries
To animals and our earth
Don't ruin our turf
Because in the end it's:
What we want, what we seek
What we don't do but speak
Is a solution to our pollution

Global Warming by Victor Redondo (aged 12)

G o plant a tree.
L ose the cigarettes, it's a big fee.
O zone hole must be closed.
B e good and recycle.
A sthma is caused from Global Warming.
L ove walking, not driving and paying for parking.

W ork on recycling.
A rmies making war, but not helping to clean.
R otten things from Global Warming.
M any lives will be ruined in years and it's not very charming.
I nstead of polluting, HELP US!
N o excuses.
G o recycle, NOW!!!

Care for the World by Edoardo Cimatti (aged 12)

The world has become a place of harm.
Success is what we seek; a solution for pollution is what we need.
If you don't care, then don't share!
What will we dare tell the future people of the earth?
If you drive, you die, if you smoke you choke.

Pollution by Luisa Runge (aged 12)

Pollution is everywhere in the sky
Over the hills, low or high
Lovely earth getting ruined
Let us stop making pollution
Until one day we will see
Trucks, dead ducks, who is free?
Industrial pollution all over the ocean
Ocean wide nothing beautiful to find
Now or never, make up your mind.

Help! by Hannah Cummings Wilson (aged 12)

It is so easy to laugh about, joke about, grin about,
When you aren't of need. Love? Ignorance.
But when you are of need they don't do anything, say anything, try anything,
Can you blame them. Hate? Ignorance.
HELP!
Can it be so hard to help out, try out, lunge out,
You can feel better. Love? Knowledge.
Then when they hear your success, see your success, taste your success,
They will see you in need and you won't need to cry out for
HELP!

Good Morning Environment by Jeffrey Elalouf (aged 12)

Environment! Environment!
Good morning, environment!
People pollute. People care!
The whole world should help you environment!

The nice shiny sun shining on my light skin…
The people, using their litter to put in the bin…

Tell people to recycle!
Don't take your motorbike, just cycle!

Stop using your car!
Just go hang out in the bar!
People pollute…
Cars pollute…
Motorbikes pollute…
Cows pollute…
Smoking pollutes…
Cutting down trees pollutes…

WE SHOULD STOP POLLUTING!!!
What can we do?
How can we help?
Who can we tell…. To ring the bell…And say hi, stop polluting…
if we keep polluting…
The environment will die…
So please stop polluting…
Environment! Environment!
Good night environment!
People will care, People will recycle!
We will help you environment!!!

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