Newcastle College students dream up eco-friendly designs

Nov 5 2009 by Amy Hunt, The Journal

TREES and grass growing around the Monument, solar-powered LED lights and stackable glass bottles that can be turned into tables.

These are some of the eco-friendly designs for a waste-free future dreamt up by students from Newcastle College.

A class studying for a Btec national diploma in 3D design were set a challenge to come up with recycled or recyclable ideas to solve environmental problems.

The youngsters have made small models of their designs and will now construct final versions.

As a starting point, they researched environmental problems such as climate change and waste, then thought about how their designs could help.

Charles Percy-Raine, 18, from Alnmouth, came up with a way of making recycled glass bottles stack together, using an indent, meaning they could be used as mp3 player speakers or to create a trendy coffee table.

Jamie Whitfield, 20, of Shotley Bridge had the idea to create more green spaces in city centres, by planting trees and grass around Newcastle’s Monument and along Grey Street. He hoped these would help combat climate change on a local level by absorbing harmful CO2.