An education programme at Warkworth School, based on waste reduction, has resulted in a staggering 72 per cent reduction in waste going to landfill. The school joined the Mahurangi Wastebusters coordinate programme in May last year, which works alongside students and staff to identify areas of improvement in the management of waste. The programme is designed to build confidence and skills to create ongoing positive change.
The students undertook waste audits, which lead to the introduction of in-class and staff room pare kai/food scrap collection caddies. This meant that composting could be done on site. It also lead to the introduction of in-class recycling bins.
“The students take great pride in being Food Scrap Monitors, and love emptying the scraps into the compost bins,” a school spokesperson said. “This helps them to show kaitiakitanga towards their school.” Sessions based around ‘rethink, reduce, reuse+repair, rot and recycle’ were run by Wastebusters educators, led by Rachel Lampen, supporting the initiatives of the students and staff.
“The sessions that Mahurangi Wastebusters provided to our students were insightful, interesting and very hands-on for the students. Rachel helped to break down important sustainability issues and made them easily accessible for students. “A favourite activity among students was placing correct items in the landfill, compost or recycling bins, as well as visibly seeing the benefits of buying in bulk rather than buying sin.