Orini gets tough on trash
Orini Combined School is cracking down on rubbish. A Zero Waste educator has visited the little school to take help them tackle their trash.
“We’ve done a rubbish audit – to discover what is brought in, and how much waste we’re producing. We’ll also find out how much of our rubbish can be recycled,” says teacher Stephanie McGovern, who is overseeing the project.
The problem for the school is there is no recycling service goes out to Orini.
“As a result we don’t have a recycling system set up. So we want to educate students and families about recycling, re-using, composting and litter-less lunch boxes so we can have less rubbish brought in.”
Last year the school participated in Waikato District Council’s Xtreme Zero Waste’s education programme, and in term 1 this year every class took part.
Orini has about 100 students – many of whom would be enthusiastic to tackle the problem, as the following feedback from senior students shows –
“I never realised how much rubbish we made each month, it was a lot more than I imagined!” – Isla
“I did think the X-man was quite good. He was very interactive with us.” – Alice
“I think it was really great for the younger kids to teach them about the environment and what they could do to help. We learnt about what countries create the most rubbish and i was really surprised about the results… overall a very cool experience!” – Jessie
Stephanie says the school has six green bins that are almost all full when emptied on Tuesday, at a cost of $538.25 every three months.
“We need to do something.”
