PUPILS from nine York schools are persuading their parents to think green in a bid to secure £10,000 for their schools.

Students from the nine schools will be putting pester power to good use this month, after the launch of Norwich Union's Climate Change Champions Public Pledge competition.

The nine schools from the city taking part in the scheme are: Tang Hall, Canon Lee, Park Grove, Dunnington, Huntington secondary, Archbishop of York, Naburn, St Lawrence's CE and All Saints' RC.

Parents, friends and relatives are being urged to take action to reduce their own carbon footprint by doing simple things, like switching appliances off standby and having a shower instead of a bath.

Pledges to honour their commitment will be collected online at www.climatechangechampions.org and the school with the most public support will receive a green prize of £10,000 provided by Norwich Union.

The pledge is part of the Climate Change Champions programme designed to help children learn more about tackling climate change.

Climate Change Champions (CCC) is a new schools programme developed by environmental charity Global Action Plan (GAP) in partnership with Norwich Union.

Fourteen volunteers from Norwich Union's local offices are mentoring over 100 students ranging from seven to 16-year-olds on understanding climate change, calculating their school's carbon footprint and devising a campaign to cut down on school waste and energy use.

The collective carbon footprint of the nine involved in the programme stands at a staggering 270 tonnes per month - that is enough CO2 to fill the Sydney Opera house six times.

Each school had the unenviable task of collecting all of the waste generated by the whole school in one day to be weighed and sorted.

This information together with analysis of energy usage gives an indication of the school's carbon footprint.

So far, in an effort to reduce their carbon footprint, the children of Bishopthorpe Primary, in York, have been taking all their packed lunch rubbish and uneaten food home with them. It is thought that showing parents how much food remains uneaten will help cut the amount of waste produced.

James Leach, of Norwich Union, said: "The enthusiasm of the students involved in Climate Change Champions had inspired Norwich Union volunteers to enlist the support of their colleagues behind the Public Pledge competition.

"Staff from Norwich Union's local offices will be making their own green pledges and backing local schools in the running for the £10,000 prize."