BLUE plastic boxes have begun to appear in homes across the region marking the beginning of a new phase of greener living for people in South Lakeland and Furness.

The boxes, designed to store paper products from newspapers to pamphlets and magazines for recycling, arrived in Ulverston and Grange-over-Sands last week and are due to be delivered to all Kendal homes over the next few days.

South Lakeland District Council's first waste paper kerbside collection, the culmination of many months work by the authority, is due to take place in Ulverston and Grange on April 8.

The first collection in Kendal is planned for April 15.

SLDC waste management officer Sharon Leney said residents needed to put their blue boxes out on the day advertised on the calendar supplied along with the box, starting on April 8, in Ulverston and Grange, and April 15, in Kendal.

From then on the box can be left out for collection every fortnight.

Mrs Leney said the scheme was rolling smoothly towards its launch and had already elicited a "very positive" response from local residents.

"We just want to get on with it now.

We are very optimistic about the scheme, and hopeful we are going to meet our recycling targets," she said.

The waste paper round will be made by a specially-adapted vehicle specifically allocated for paper collection.

SLDC, along with local authorities nation wide, is challenged with doubling its current recycling figure of around seven per cent to recycle around 14 per cent of domestic waste by 2003/4 and 21 per cent by 2005/6.

For further information contact SLDC's recycling helpline on 01539 717287/717288, log onto www.southlakelandrecycling.co.uk or visit our Features page for more news.