Waste...1. Reduce
Encourage everyone to use the back side of paper before it is discarded (preferably
recycled).
2. Implement a recycling
programme at your school
Recycling can become a bit of an organisational nightmare, so try to spread the
responsibility to reduce the individual workload.
If your town/city has a kerbside
recycling programme take advantage of it by providing your students with recycling bins.
You may need to nominate some students to take responsibility for making sure that only
recyclable items are put into the recycling bin and that the bin is put out at the
kerbside on the appropriate day.
You may find it easier to put the
responsibility of recycling onto individual classrooms. Having a recycling bin in each
room, which is the responsibility of the students. The recyclable items will need to be
put out at the kerbside on the appropriate day or taken home by students to be put with
their recyclable material at home - a roster system may be needed.
Recycling bins need to be visually
different from normal waste bins - undoubtedly your students will be able to come up with
some attractive designs for your school's recycling bins.
Contact your local paper collection
company and inquire whether they will pick up paper from your school.
3. Waste audit
Students could do a waste audit to determine how much of your schools waste could be
composted, recycled or reused, rather than sent to the landfill.
4. Compost bin
Composting is nature's own recycling system.
There are some great compost bins available from garden and building stores but perhaps
students could test their technology skills by designing and building a school compost
bin.
Recently 'worm bins' have been
developed, where worms are used to enhance the composting process. Check your yellow pages
for a worm farmer near you to learn more. Perhaps you could ask them to visit your school.
Making a miniature worm composting system in an old ice cream container is an excellent
activity for your students.
Information about composting bins
and worm composting is available from your local council or Forest and Bird (please send a
stamped, self addressed envelope to Forest and Bird). Marlborough District Council has
developed a four step schools education programme to reuse schools organic material for
composting and teach about the life cycle of the worm and ecosystems, please contact them
for more information, PO Box 443, Blenheim.
5. School clean up
Choose an area near your school, possibly a beach, gully, park or stream to clean up for
Earth Day. I'm sure many of you participated in Clean Up The World, perhaps your students
could go back to the same area. Caring for the environment should not be limited to one
day a year. We should give continual care to the natural environment.
6. Storm water drains
This is a great topic to explore with your students. Storm water drains are all around us
and yet many people pay no attention to them and do not understand their significance.
Storm water drains are
in all our urban areas, including your school, so our streets and school grounds do not
flood every time it rains. They are outlets that take water straight to New Zealand's
streams, rivers, harbours and beaches. There is no filter system catching rubbish, so all
of the rubbish in our streets will eventually end up in the ocean if it finds it way into
a storm water drain. People often misuse storm water drains when they are washing their
car, cleaning painting gear or hosing down driveways. All the harmful substances from
these activities end up in the ocean - not a pretty thought!
Go outside with your
students and find the storm water drains in your school grounds. You may also want to take
them to the roadside and find a storm water drain on the street. Ask your students what
they are, and what they are for? Perhaps you could find out where the storm water from
your school goes?
Please contact your
local council for more information about storm water drains, many have produced
educational information that can be used in school. |
