BRIDPORT school pupils marked Climate Week by learning about how they can help the environment by reducing food waste.

Youngsters from St Mary's Primary School in Bridport took part in a week of activities - including a wacky theatre show featuring Gordon le Rotter, a French chef and his puppet sidekick Pierre.

The double act discussed food waste with the pupils, and possible solutions to reduce it.

Children learned that wasting food also wastes energy, water and money. They were told that thinking about the three Rs - reduce, re-use and recycle can help them prevent it.

The shows are part of a programme that 12 Dorset schools are working on to achieve an Eco-schools Green Flag award.

The theatre visits were sponsored by Eco Sustainable Solutions, who operate an anaerobic digester at Piddlehinton.

Cllr Toni Coombs, Dorset County Council's cabinet member for children and young people, said the project was very useful and a way of the next generation exercising influence on their own environment both at school and home.

She said: "The eco-school's programme involves the whole school community and is led by pupils.

"By learning about how changes can help tackle climate change, children are influencing not only the school's environmental impact, but also their family's."

The Eco-Schools network is run by Communities Living Sustainably (CLS) in Dorset, a BIG Lottery funded partnership project led by Dorset Community Action - along with Dorset County Council as a partner.

This CLS programme will build upon the many climate change and sustainability initiatives in West Dorset, and bring together various organisations including, community groups, local authorities and small businesses.

The Eco-Schools programme is an international awards programme that helps schools embed sustainable principles into school life and encourage environmental values among pupils.

In 2011, Dorset schools were shown to be the best performing schools for energy efficiency in the country out of 152 local authorities.

The comprehensive analysis of energy performance data for 11,993 schools in England and Wales was carried out by the Urban Land Institute.

For more information about Eco-schools visit www.clsdorset.org.uk.

There is also a free workshop today at Athelhampton House near Dorchester called Make More, Use Less.

The purpose of the 10am workshop is to answer questions about how to make more from products and services

by being more efficient and having a more desirable brand.

There will be elements on optimising packaging and recycling.