How we’re tackling the never-ending problem of rubbish in the school yard to start 2022.
by Madame Thorburn (via ClassDojo)
With parents and some students unable to be at school at the moment, I thought it was time to share a new initiative we are trialling this year to solve the neverending problem of rubbish in the yard and recycling bins filled with incorrect items which then contaminate whole truckloads of recyclables collected by Onkaparinga Council.
Please have a look at these photos taken after school last Thursday following 2 days of 200+ students being back at school, plus the two student free days where we provided supervision for those in need. Your children might like to tell you where each photo was taken and what is included. If you look carefully at the photos, it is what is NOT included that is really important: There is NO rubbish and there are NO rubbish bins outside.
Our first step has been to remove the rubbish bins from the yard (except the one required by the canteen for WHS and food handling requirements). Students eat outside their classrooms in their designated eating areas and then put any waste (wrappers, containers, half eaten sandwich …) back into their lunchbox or bag to take home where they can be disposed of correctly using the systems you have operating in your household – rubbish, recycling, green waste, compost, feeding the chooks, redcycling …. We do still have small landfill bins in each classroom, so you won’t be faced with the spilt tub of yoghurt or the squishy banana!
Some families have opted for nude food lunchboxes which results in no waste for school to manage. We are continuing to recycle paper and card as we generate a lot of that waste at school. Once we have the rubbish back under control, we will look again at whole school systems to manage food scraps and possibly Redcycle products. For now, individual teachers are managing the food scraps with their classes. Some, like me, are collecting the scraps and taking them home to place in their own green bins. Some are investigating using the many composters we have in a more effective way, while one is looking at establishing a worm farm.
Whatever processes are established, they need to be manageable in order to be successful and sustainable. We would appreciate your support in teaching the students to be responsible for their own rubbish. If you have any great ideas about other successful strategies, please message me via your child’s Class Dojo.
