Teacher preparation:

Overarching learning goal: This activity is in two parts. In the first part of this activity students will review the waste management system in the school and make recommendations for its improvement. In the second part of the activity, students develop a plan to cut the amount of paper used by the school.

Teacher content information:

Refuse – means to not do something in order to cut the waste you will produce. A simple example of this is to not accept a plastic shopping bag from the shop assistant when you have bought only one small item. Another example is to not use aluminium foil to roast potatoes in their jackets in the oven.
Reduce – buying and using things more carefully so that you produce less waste overall. For example, if you buy one large box of cereal instead of two small ones, that means you will have less cardboard packaging overall. Packing the right amount of food for your school lunch means that you will have less uneaten food to throw away after lunch.
Reuse – to use more than once for the same or a different purpose. For example, a girl might use a Ziploc bag for some biscuits for lunch and then wash the bag and use it over and over again to hold different sorts of snacks.
Recycle – the process of making something new from something that has been thrown away. The new product can be the same as the old one or something quite different. For example, a sheet of photocopy paper could be made into another sheet of photocopy paper (same) or it could be made into a cardboard box (different). With some materials (e.g. glass, metals and plastic), heat is used in the recycling process, bringing about a change of state from solid to liquid and back to solid again.

See what other schools are doing by exploring a case study here.

Students can use their existing knowledge or analysis of school waste management (see activities such as Lunchtime litter, A look at our organic waste, or A picture of waste) to support their analysis of the waste management system at your school.

Student and classroom organisation:

Activity 1. Prepare a plan to improve the waste management system in the school

Step 1.

Discuss what is meant by the school’s waste management system (e.g. how solid waste is dealt with at your school; if, how and where recyclable materials are recycled; if, how and where organic waste is composted or given to the worms or chooks; if and how there is a program for waste reduction). Explain to the students that they will use their knowledge of the school's waste management system to make recommendations to the school about improving the school’s waste management system.

Step 2.

Ask students to think of any ideas they have for improving the waste management system in the school on a sheet of butcher's paper, sorting the ideas under the following headings:

Organic (food scraps)
Organic (garden waste)
Paper and cardboard recycling
Bottle and can recycling
Rubbish
Litter

Ask the students to add other ideas under each of the six headings.

Step 3.

Give each student a felt pen and ask them to tick two ideas under each heading that they believe would best cut the waste produced by the school. Add up the number of ticks for each idea and circle the five that received the most votes. These top ideas can become recommendations to put to the rest of the school.

Step 4.

Students then type up the ideas and include them in a letter to the Principal. Some suggestions for writing persuasive letters:

Be respectful.
State the problem(s).
Describe briefly how you identified the problem.
Give a solution to the problem – your five recommendations for each waste stream.
Explain how this will help solve the problem(s) – and help the school.
Finish the letter with what you would like the Principal to do (e.g.. take the ideas to School Council for further discussion or form a committee of teachers and students to plan a way forward).

Activity 2. A plan for reducing the total amount of paper used by the school

Step 1.

Explain to the students that paper makes up one of the largest parts of the waste produced by a school. The main sources of this paper waste are newspapers (from the staffroom), photocopy paper, printer paper and writing paper. Most schools recycle this paper, but it still costs money to dispose of this paper for recycling and the school still has to pay for the paper in the first place. So while paper recycling reduces the amount of paper sent by school to landfill, the real issue is how a school can get by with using less paper.

Step 2.

Place four sheets of butcher’s paper on a wall of the classroom. Write three of the 4Rs on each: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse

Step 3.

Under each heading, ask the students to brainstorm as many ways as possible that will cut the amount of waste paper produced by the school. For example:

Refuse – students submit projects as electronic files.
Reduce – students use laminated worksheets, writing with washable felt pens.
Reuse – students and teachers use paper that has been used on one side for scrap and rough work.
Recycle - students and teachers ensure that all the paper they discard is recycled, where possible.

Step 4.

Use a selection process - such as in Activity 1 - to choose the top ten ideas for each of Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Students communicate these ideas to the rest of the school using which ever medium they choose: signs, posters, banners, brochures, plays, movies, etc.

Assessment/Reflection

Ask students to complete the KWHL activity in the student worksheet.

Cutting the waste line

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