Waste Audit

What is a waste audit?

We collected all the red (landfill) bins from areas around the school. These contained 4 days worth of landfill rubbish. We looked at what was in the bins that could have been recycled or composted instead of buried in the landfill.  

Sorting the landfill waste from the Tui classrooms

We looked at the landfill waste of our 4 groups:

1) Tui classrooms

2) Kea classrooms

3) Staff areas

4) Hall users

Why do we do it? 

This helps us see how we can reduce our school landfill waste even further.

Landfills are not good because we don't want to keep burying at the rubbish in the ground - it produces harmful methane gas and we'll run out of space! Also, some of the things buried in landfill are useful - they can make compost or be recycled.

After last years waste audit we focused on:

- making sure we recycled plastic bottle and scrap paper

- putting tissues and paper towels in the green compost bins

- trying to re-purpose things rather than throw them in landfill.

How did we do?

We split the waste into:

* What needed to go to landfill (red bins)

* What could have been recycled (in the yellow bin)

* What could have been composted (in the green bins)

* What could have been recycled as soft plastic.

It was great to see a 36% reduction in what we are putting into landfill!

* 2022: 3.17kg a day

* 2023: 2.03kg a day

Kea classrooms are great at recycling! 

Kea classrooms are great at composting!

We collect soft plastic and recycle it at Countdown but these obviously got missed out
from the 'soft plastic sausage' 

The hall users are doing a great job at reducing waste!

We achieved really pleasing results with much less waste in many areas.
We realised we need to keep working on ways to reduce soft plastic at school. 

2022 Results:

2023 Results: 

Year 3 & 4 students Adopt A Park

 As a new initiative this year our Year 3 and Year 4 Enviro students have 'adopted' a local park.

The park we've adopted is William Green Domain. It is on Pakuranga Highway - just a short walk from school. 

We have become kaitiaki for this park and will try our best to look after it by:

* Picking up rubbish

* Learning about and caring for native trees and animals

* Removing weeds

Visit 1: Friday 24th March 

During this visit we:  

1) Looked at the native trees and plants growing and got to know the park

2) Picked up rubbish

3) Collected a LOT of moth pods 

      

Visit 2: Wednesday 17th May. 

During this visit we had an expert environmental educator teaching us. Levi taught about the importance of fungi, bacteria and insects (worms) "FBI". These help keep the soil healthy. 

Soil, and the plants living in it, play an important role in absorbing water.  We learnt about worms and how they make tunnels in the soil.  The number of worms in a piece of soil tell us about the health of the soil. 

The highlights of the visit were: 

"counting all the worms" (Austin)

" finding all the worms and counting how many there was in a small piece of soil" (Hunter)

" being outside in the environment and picking up rubbish" (Daniella) 

"filling up my big bag with SO much trash!" (Shyla) 

"spotting an eel in the stream and the over-friendly chicken!" (Mrs Hays) 

Garden to Table Term 2 - Welcome Room 3 & 4

 As we start Term 2 and move into autumn, two new classes are taking part in our Garden to Table programme. 

The students have already created lots of amazing things...

* Plants for Mothers Day gifts

* ANZAC biscuits 

* Herby Breadsticks  to mention just a few!

 

 

  

 

Student have also been enjoying the 'Plant ID' task - where they have to see who many plants they can identify from the looking, feeling and smelling the leaves. 

 

All the recipes we make this term can be found HERE.