News
Scottish Youngsters Launch New Recycling Centres
Tesco has launched three new Recycling Centres in Scotland - at stores in Rutherglen ,St Rollox and Kilmarnock. The move brings the total number of automated Tesco Recycling centres in Scotland to 10, just one year after Environment Minister Richard Lochhead launched the first at the Tesco Extra store in Shettleston.
Youngsters from Annanhill Primary in Kilmarnock, St Roch's Primary in St Rollox and Toryglen Primary in Rutherglen, were joined by Tesco staff to help launch the revolutionary new Recycling Centres at their local Tesco stores.
The school children had created the winning entries in a competition to promote the launch of the new Recycling facilities. Local schools across all three areas were asked to create a snappy slogan or poem about the benefits of recycling and caring for the environment. Each winning school received a donation of £500 and each individual winner was also awarded a £100 Tesco Giftcard.
The lean green machines recycles aluminium and steel cans, plastic bottles and glass bottles and jars.
The automated Recycling Centres, are the latest of many successfully installed by Tesco throughout the UK, and are a key part of the ongoing commitment by Tesco to the local community and to the environment.
The new "one stop" Recycling Centre compacts and crushes material, which also saves on carbon emissions in collecting waste by reducing the number of journeys needed to empty them.
The recycling centre has special scanners and sensors to detect items, which have to be, deposited one item at a time.
Tesco, who pioneered the revolutionary recycling system in the UK, are investing millions in a nationwide green campaign.
Tesco Head of Recycling and Waste, Sion Stanfield said: "Recycling is a key issue for our customers and as a responsible retailer we are committed to helping our shoppers adopt green habits and lower their carbon footprints. They have asked us to make recycling easier, more fun and more convenient and this is what the new automated machines are designed to do . Glass is smashed,cans are crushed and plastic bottles granulated to reduce them to a fraction of their original size. This is recycling made easy".
And to encourage people to recycle more aluminium cans, Tesco is offering Clubcard holders one Clubcard point for every two aluminium cans recycled.
Zero Waste Scotland
The Scottish Government has created a new programme called Zero Waste Scotland to support delivery of its Zero Waste Plan.
Zero Waste Scotland has been created to provide a one-stop-shop for support and advice to individuals, businesses and local authorities in order to help them reduce waste, recycle more and use natural resources more efficiently.
It will integrate the activities of Waste Aware Scotland. WRAP Scotland, Keep Scotland Tidy, Remade Scotland, Envirowise in Scotland, NISP in Scotland, and some programmes delivered by the Community Recycling Network for Scotland.
The full integration of these programmes will take place throughout 2010/11.
For more information see the Scottish Government website: www.scotland.gov.uk
Schools Battle It Out To Be Top of the Class with Recycling
Several primary schools in Edinburgh have entered a challenge to see who can improve the recycling rates in their neighbourhood. This incentive scheme, the first of its kind in Edinburgh, is part of a city-wide effort to boost recycling.
Six primary schools are participating in the inter-school challenge. The recycling collected from the red and blue kerbside recycling boxes in the area surrounding each school will be weighed and measured and the school with the biggest percentage increase will be declared winner. The winners will be announced in June.
The schools participating are: Castleview Primary School, Davidsons Mains Primary School, Kirkliston Primary School, Niddrie Mill Primary School, Queensferry Primary School and Stenhouse Primary School.
Pupils at the schools will also get to enjoy a free environmentally aware arts and crafts workshop. The winning school will walk away with a £300 cash prize for the school to spend, with a second prize of £200 and a third prize of £100. An additional prize draw of five cinema tickets will take place on Tuesday to celebrate the start of the scheme. Households were able to enter by returning a tear-off slip from a flyer handed out to school pupils.
Cllr Robert Aldridge, Environment Leader, said: "This is a great way to get young people interested in, and involved with recycling and to meet our ambitious targets we need everyone to embrace the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle message. By holding this fun competition we hope the pupils will get excited about recycling and take that enthusiasm home with them. I look forward to hearing the results in June."
Plastic Fantastic in East Ayrshire School
Primary 4 children at Nether Robertland Primary are building a plastic bottle greenhouse with the help of the East Ayrshire Countryside Rangers.
The greenhouse will be built in the school's peace garden which is part of a project within the school to obtain their second Green Flag award from Eco-Schools Scotland. The Green Flag award is the top level of award in the Eco-Schools programme.
The project is going well, but more empty 2 litre plastic bottles are required! Please hand your clean plastic bottles in to the Ranger Service at Dean Castle Country Park or at the school reception.
Councillor Iain Linton, Spokesperson for Lifelong Learning, said: "This is an excellent way of recycling empty plastic bottles, turning them into something useful which will aid the progress of the school towards Green Flag status. I congratulate the head teacher, staff and pupils on an imaginative educational project and would encourage as many people as possible to start saving their plastic bottles for Nether Robertland."
For more information on the project, contact Paddy MacDonald, Countryside Ranger on 01563 554742 or email james.macdonald@east-ayrshire.gov.uk
Help us meet the magic 1,000
Our close friends and colleagues at Keep Scotland Tidy and Eco-Schools Scotland are joining forces to recruit 1,000 schools to take part in National Spring Clean 2010 (www.keepscotlandtidy.org/springclean) to coincide with the anticipated 1,000th Green Flag being awarded to a Scottish school this spring.
National Spring Clean is Scotland's biggest annual litter picking campaign, which encourage as many people as possible to take part in a voluntary litter pick at some point during the month of April. Nearly 60,000 volunteers took part in April 2009 and an astonishing 377 of the litter picks that took place involved schools - but with your help we are confident we can rise to the challenge and treble that number to 1,000 schools demonstrating that they will not stand for litter in their neighbourhood in 2010.
Fabulous prizes to be won!
Keep Scotland Tidy is offering additional incentives to schools to take part in National Spring Clean 2010. Twelve lucky participating schools will be chosen at random to receive a groovy prize each!
If you represent a school, all you need to do is register a litter pick during the month of April (at www.keepscotlandtidy.org/springclean) and you could receive a wormery, composter, mixed selection of plants, willow arch, rain butt, your own child-sized litter picking equipment, or one of our other fabulous prizes when the campaign comes to a close this year.
Claim your FREE clean up kit
Organisers of registered clean ups receive a FREE clean up kit to help them get started.
Recycling for Scotland Christmas competition for Schools
Viridor, one of Scotland’s leading recycling, energy recovery and waste management companies are inviting schools to take part in this year's Viridor Christmas card competition. With the theme of 'Recycling for Scotland', the winning design will feature on Viridor's official Christmas card, printed on recycled material, and sent to their partners and customers across Scotland.
The winning entry will receive £500 of recycling equipment or book tokens for their school and a personal prize of a Nintendo DSi. The second place entry wins £100 of recycling equipment or book tokens for their school and a personal prize, with the third place submission winning £50 worth of the same for their school.
To enter, Christmas card designs with the theme 'Recycling for Scotland' should be submitted on A4 paper to Martin Grey, Viridor, Langmuir Way, Bargeddie, Glasgow, G69 7RW or scanned and emailed to scotland@viridor.co.uk by noon on Monday 30th November.
Global Warning - the Voice of Youth
Plan International, a child-centred development agency have launched an exciting New Video/Creative writing competition: "Global Warning - the Voice of Youth".
In partnership with the UK Youth Parliament, Plan UK will select 4 young people from the UK and Indonesia aged between 12-16 to attend and report from the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change in December 2009.
The winning UK journalists will:
For more information on how to get involved please download the competition pdf here.
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Plan is one of the largest child-centred community development organisations in the world. Plan-Ed is full of global-education projects and resources designed especially for the UK classroom. Each project comes with detailed lesson plans with clear curriculum links, photocopiable activity sheets, and supplementary photo, video and audio resources. All resources are free and designed to develop key skills in discussion, presentation, critical thinking and problem solving.
Recolight launches 'Big Light Project' for schools
Recolight, the national recycling scheme for lighting manufacturers has launched a schools education campaign to improve public understanding of the differences between compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and traditional incandescent light bulbs. A key message will be to communicate to the public why CFLs should be recycled rather than disposed of with domestic waste.
Known as the 'Big Light Project' and aimed at children aged 8-13 years, the educational programme will feature a specially designed character - 'Professor Bright, Expert in Light', who will help to bring the topic of light alive to children in a fun and engaging way while communicating serious messages about the environment and climate change. The project will be piloted across 1,000 primary and 800 secondary schools in London and the South East beginning mid-2009, with a view to a national roll-out in future years.
Peter Lees, Commercial Manager of Recolight says: "With the current emphasis on the fulfilment of energy reduction targets in the UK, the uptake of energy efficient light bulbs (CFLs) has exceeded all expectations. But, because CFLs last so much longer than traditional incandescent bulbs, the issue of what to do with used CFLs has not been perceived as any kind of problem. People need to understand that because these bulbs contain a small amount of mercury they should not ‘throw them in the bin’ but preferably take them to a recycling centre.
"This programme is designed to reach out to young people and their families and to assist Defra and local councils in raising recycling more household waste as a general concept and also to put CFL bulbs on the wider recycling-agenda. We want to show the adults of tomorrow the important role that they can play as individuals to improve the environment for future generations."
The programme will cover a range of modules including history, technology, ICT and English in primary schools, and science, design and technology and PSHE in secondary schools. Written by a specially appointed team of industry experts and teachers, it will take students on an imaginative journey, from past to present, through to the future, touching on a number of related life issues, such as active recycling, energy efficiency and climate change. Available for use throughout the spring and summer terms, components will include a dedicated website, a competition for primary and secondary school children and an educational film.
For further information about Recolight visit www.recolight.co.uk.
Recycled airplane to be classroom
A school in Stoke has recycled a commercial airplane to give wings to its expansion plans. Pupils at the Kingsland Primary School were given the chance to choose what they wanted as an extra classroom. One child suggested an airplane and the school, this week, opened the new classroom with 'first class' facilities.
The class room is a decommissioned S-360 which the school was able to buy for £11,000. The scheme, called the Kings Wings, aims to not only provide more learning space but also teaches the pupils about recycling.
Head teacher, David Lawrence, said: "The children have been involved in the design and project management of the King's Wings and will regularly use the aeroplane to help them learn.
"The children's imagination has been fired up by the idea and they are enthused and motivated and we are sure that this will lead to improved attendance, give us better and more opportunities for speaking and listening and will raise attainment.
"The project has certainly raised aspirations and has caught the wider community's interest, our aim is to use the aeroplane as a community learning resource too."
Pupils from Wellshot Primary open landmark recycling centre with Cabinet Secretary
The first automated recycling centre at a Scottish supermarket has been opened.
The new facility at Tesco Extra in Shettleston, Glasgow, is designed to make recycling quicker, easier and more convenient as shoppers can recycle a variety of materials in the same machine.
Items accepted include cans, plastic and glass. Waste is then crushed and compacted on site resulting in fewer lorry collections, reducing carbon emissions.
Pupils from local Wellshot Primary attended the launch having been asked to produce pictures of 'what recycling means to me'. Mr Lochhead and store manager Mark Whittet presented the best entry with a prize of a £100 Tesco gift card. A donation of £500 was also made to the school.
The TOMRA recycling machine, cost Tesco around £150,000 and is the first of its kind in a Scottish supermarket making it quicker, easier and more convenient to recycle.
Watch a video clip of the new facility on The Herald's website.
Schools to go greener
Scotland's schools are to become greener under a new Government initiative to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop has announced a package of measures which will work towards a lower carbon school estate and meet the Government's commitments to have renewable generation in every school as well as contributing to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 as will be required under the Scottish Climate Change Bill.
To read the full story visit: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2009/01/05083126
Borders schools benefit from M&S eco-boost
Marks & Spencer has joined forces with Scottish Borders Council to announce an exciting environmental initiative which will help to boost the eco-status of all schools in the region.
M&S, which opened its first ‘green’ store in Galashiels last year, has invested £35,000 in the Scottish Borders Schools Eco Challenge. The initiative is designed to encourage school children to identify and present a project based around an environmental theme, with a focus on sustainable development.
Participation in the competition will also help schools to achieve their goals within the Eco Schools international award programme as they work towards Bronze, Silver or the top Green Flag status. The most impressive entries will win cash prizes.
Executive Member for Education, Councillor Catriona Bhatia, said: “This is a fantastic initiative which will not only have a positive impact on pupils, their school and their surroundings but will also provide schools with an exciting challenge and a great opportunity to get some extra resources for their school.
“We are also extremely grateful to M&S for providing the additional funding to enable us to employ a dedicated officer who will be on-hand to assist schools with extra support and guidance in their bid towards achieving the highest eco-schools award possible.”
Margaret Drever, Section Manager at M&S in Galashiels said: “M&S in Galashiels was the first purpose-built eco-store in the business, so I am delighted to be involved in another ‘first’, this time with the Scottish Borders Schools Eco Challenge.
“M&S has set itself a target of becoming carbon neutral by 2012 as part of Plan A, and I look forward to combining our efforts with those of the schools to achieve a vast and sustained improvement in our local environment far into the future.”
The Eco Schools initiative will require pupils to base their projects on one or more environmental themes, including water, biodiversity, energy, healthy living, litter, school grounds, transport and waste. Judging will be based on criteria such as creativity, enthusiasm, success of implementation, impact of the project and evidence of successful links with the community or business partners.
Headed by the council’s Education & Lifelong Learning department, the project recently recruited a dedicated environmental officer who will work with schools over the next two years to drive the initiative forward.
Notes
Scottish Universities and Colleges Urged to Reduce Reuse Recycle
Waste Aware Campus, a new online resource to encourage Scottish universities and colleges to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle their waste, was launched today, Wednesday 23 July 2008, by Waste Aware Scotland.
The Waste Aware Campus website: www.wasteawarecampus.org.uk contains a number of ‘How to Guides’ providing practical information and advice for staff and students on how to set up a recycling scheme and raise awareness of waste recycling and waste prevention initiatives. A Recycling Directory allows staff to find organisations that can provide recycling collections for campuses. There is also a Poster Creator to enable staff and students to create and download posters to raise awareness and help implement campus recycling schemes.
Students can also find out how they themselves can raise awareness of waste prevention and other environmental causes in the Environmental Campaigning section of the new website.
Welcoming the move, Cabinet Secretary for the Environment Richard Lochhead said: “I am delighted to see Scotland’s university and college sector looking to tackle waste head on. It is important that staff and students alike are aware of what they can do to help as we aspire towards a Zero Waste Scotland.”
The website has also been endorsed by the Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges (EAUC) to promote waste reduction, reuse and recycling within Scottish universities and colleges.
Iain Patton, Executive Director of EAUC said: “This is a first-class resource that puts a number of very useful tools and resources under one umbrella and makes it simple for the staff on campuses to see what is relevant and available in their own local area. I’m particularly impressed by the fact that Waste Aware Campus is also an aid to students. It allows them to determine what they can do to reduce the impact of their own personal waste, whether they live at home or in a flat and gives excellent information to those who may want to consider a career in the waste industry.”
The concepts of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle are explained along with examples of how staff and students can participate in these activities on campus and in the home.
In addition, staff and students can find out how other campuses are becoming Waste Aware through the Case Studies section. Campuses are also invited to send information about their own efforts to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, which may then be featured as a case study.
For students considering a career in waste management the website contains Career Profiles and advice on how to get that all important work experience.
Whether you are a student, member of staff, or simply want to find out more, visit the new website at www.wasteawarecampus.org.uk. Comments and queries can be sent to Emma Niedzwiedz by email at campus@wasteawarescotland.org.uk.
Waste Aware Campus is funded by the Scottish Government, as part of their commitment to a Greener Scotland. To find out more, or to pledge your support, please visit www.itsourfuture.co.uk.
New study shows great potential for recycling school waste
New research published today by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) indicates that up to 78% of day-to-day waste - mainly food, paper and card - produced by schools in England could be easily recycled or composted.
More than three-quarters of day-to-day waste produced by schools could be easily recycled or composted, saving local authorities more than £6m in landfill tax, according to new research published today by WRAP.
Waste produced during the school day by England’s 20,871 primary and secondary schools is estimated at more than 250,000 tonnes each year, which is enough to fill Wembley Stadium.
Of this waste, mostly discarded food, paper and card, an estimated 78% or 200,000 tonnes could be readily recycled or composted. This could potentially save an estimated 176,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions. Recycling or composting this waste would give local authorities an environmentally-friendly alternative to landfill and could save them around £6.4 million in Landfill Tax (at £32 per tonne).
The study - which analysed a week’s-worth of waste from 24 schools in four different local authorities - found that, on average, primary schools generated 45kg of waste per pupil and secondary schools 22 kg per pupil over the 40 week academic year.
More than 70% of waste from schools comes from just two categories – food waste, and paper and card.
Recycling, rather than landfilling, waste from schools can also help local authorities to meet their LATS (Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme) allowances and potentially avoid fines for exceeding these.
WRAP commissioned the research to improve understanding of the types and quantities of waste from schools and give local authorities and other recycling service providers indicative data to aid their service planning.
WRAP says the findings are a useful indicator of the scale and nature of waste from schools and will be helpful in planning the more effective management, and hopefully greater recycling, of this type of waste. Average recycling rates for schools in the study were 13% for primary and 20% for secondary schools.
Philip Ward, WRAP’S Director of Local Government Services, commented: “With nearly 7.5 million schoolchildren in England alone, schools have a great opportunity to contribute to solving our national waste problem and educate tomorrow’s consumers. There are also immediate benefits for Council Tax payers if the cost of waste disposal can be reduced and for the environment if resources are used more effectively.
“This research highlights the potential ‘easy-win’ of collecting readily recyclable materials from a relatively small number of sites, and local authorities should be looking to see how they can help to make this happen,” he added.
WRAP offers training and advice for local authorities, as well as resources for schools, to help improve the recycling of waste from schools. WRAP will also be consulting with other agencies to explore solutions to some of the issues raised by this research as appropriate. The full report can be found at www.wrap.org.uk/schoolwaste
Love Food Hate Waste at the Royal Highland Show
This year’s Royal Highland Show was a great success for Waste Aware Scotland’s Love Food Hate Waste campaign.
Based in the Children’s Discovery Centre, the team ran workshops about food waste for primary and secondary schools on Thursday and Friday. The benefits of buying local and seasonal food were highlighted to families over the weekend with the help of giant dominoes which were covered in seasonal berries in place of spots!
The event also saw the launch of the Love Food Hate Waste Schools competition. The children were asked to come up with a hint, tip or recipe idea to help reduce food waste. The best entry will receive a smoothie-maker for their school. The competition is still open, click here to enter.
Love Food Hate Waste is a nation-wide initiative developed by Waste Aware Scotland, to encourage the Scottish public to be more waste aware in its attitude to food.
The campaign focuses on four key areas to help reduce food waste – planning and preparation, storing food, recipe ideas and portioning. The campaign website www.wasteawarelovefood.org.uk offers a collection of hints, tips, recipes and advice from Scotland’s best loved chefs and food writers.
Waste Aware Scotland’s Home Composting campaign team were also at the show. They taught children which key things they could compost at home and at school. Many schools across Scotland have started to compost as part of their EcoSchools journey. You can find out more about composting at home at the campaign website.
Pupils examine environmental issues
Pupils from Stirling had the opportunity to see where their waste goes at first hand recently when they visited the Council’s waste management facility at Lower Polmaise.
Over 360 primary and secondary school pupils took advantage of the chance to visit Lower Polmaise to find out what happens to the waste that they put into their grey and brown wheelie bins.
Many schools within the Stirling Council area are working on environmental projects, including looking at the issues of waste and recycling, and the resulting problems facing future generations.
Stirling Council’s Waste Education Officer for Schools, Avril Robertson said: “These visits have been running for 7 years now, and again this year we have been inundated with requests from classes and schools to visit the Lower Polmaise Waste Management Complex. This illustrates the theory behind the work that the children are doing and it has been extremely pleasing to see how knowledgeable the children are when taking them on the tour of the facility, with plenty of questions about waste and recycling. The teachers and adults accompanying the children on the tours also have come away saying that it has made them think more about what should be recycled or composted.”
Scottish secondary schools take control of their waste budget“What Rot!” - Little Rotters are composting winners!
Today children in nurseries and primary schools across Edinburgh and East Lothian dug deep into their compost bins and cleaned out their wormeries so that they could enter the coveted ‘What Rot!’ composting competition. Blackhall Primary came out as a double winner for ‘Best Worm Compost’ and ‘Best Model Bin at a Nursery’, whilst St Leonards Nursery School won ‘Best Compost’ and Dirleton Primary in East Lothian won ‘Best Model Bin at a Primary School’.
The competition has been extremely popular yet again. Eleven local schools and nurseries brought their compost with them, whilst several others arrived by post - all in the hope of winning the fantastic “What Rot!” composting and wormery trophies, plus £100 of gardening vouchers to help develop their schools grounds. Winners of the ‘Best Model Compost Bin’ each won £50 of gardening vouchers.
While the judges carefully deliberated over the entries, the children had the opportunity to get up close with the live inhabitants of a compost bin and plant a ‘seed of hope’. Local musician and entertainer Dougie Hudson from Natural Grooves also performed a noisy ‘compost bin show’ to get adults, children and the worms dancing!
Changeworks’ Waste Education Service has been working with over fifty nursery and primary schools from Edinburgh and East Lothian to help them to recycle their organic waste. Schools that entered the composting competition received free interactive composting workshops, compost bins and classroom caddies. Schools already composting have aimed to get even more out of their bins this year. Changeworks’ Dr Compost volunteers helped them out by giving their existing bins a health check. Some schools have even taken things to the next level by using wormeries as the new school pets.
The success of this competition is a fantastic reflection of the phenomenal motivation of staff and pupils and shows that local schools and nurseries can all help the environment by recycling more.
Scottish secondary schools take control of their waste budget
We all know that we need to recycle more and produce less waste, but what would you do if you had control over your schools budget to ensure less waste was produced? A competition organised by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), invited all third year pupils from secondary schools in Scotland to participate in a national waste prevention competition.
The pupils were asked to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various waste prevention strategies that could be used in their school. Pupils were asked to submit a powerpoint presentation and the finalists were invited to give an oral presentation in front of a panel of judges.
The final was held at the Perth Concert Hall on Wednesday, 12 March 2008 and was judged by a panel consisting of SEPA, EcoSchools and sponsors of the most creative winners prize; Taylor Ltd. The presentations were of an exceptional standard and although the judges found it difficult to make a decision, the results were as follows:
Sarah Lee of SEPA said: “The judges were very impressed with the standard of presentations and interest shown by the pupils, and we would all like to offer their congratulations to all the schools that took part in the competition. We had a great response to the competition and I think everyone thoroughly enjoyed the day, I know I certainly did!”
SEPA believes it is vitally important to increase awareness of waste prevention issues amongst this age group, and provide a practical and fun opportunity for S3 pupils to engage with the curriculum. In addition, this event provided a great chance for pupils to expand their team-working, presentational and creative skills.
WEEE recycle-more – Glasgow Poster Competition!
www.recycle-more.co.uk in partnership with Wincanton recycling, is launching a poster competition for young people in the Glasgow area to promote recycling of waste electronics (WEEE) in the local community. The competition is open to school children or youth group members aged 12-14 and the winning poster will be professionally enlarged and pasted onto the rescapeTM banks at the Easter Queenslie recycling site; one of four sites with facilities for recycling WEEE in Glasgow. In addition, the winner’s school or group will receive an expenses-paid trip to the Glasgow Science Museum and its IMAX Theatre.
All the entries received will be scanned and posted onto a dedicated recycle-more web page. Sam Blades, recycle-more Manager, commented ‘this competition is a great opportunity for schools to engage with the local community. It also provides an innovative way to cover the requirements of the syllabus in this area.’
Valpak’s Director of Marketing Duncan Simpson said ‘The Glasgow competition is being run as a pilot scheme and we will hopefully be looking to run similar promotions in other areas of the UK later in the year’.
For more information please contact Ellie Williams, ellie.williams@valpak.co.uk, and keep an eye on the recycle-more site for the latest developments!
Fantastic new funding opportunity for Scottish Eco Schools
Has your school gained its Eco-Schools Silver Award? Are youthinking of going for the Green Flag in the near future?
Thanks to the support of Currys and their ‘Switched on Communities’ programme, Scottish schools which have gained their Eco-Schools Silver Award will now have the opportunity to apply for funding to help them progress towards Green Flag status.
Please note that schools which have already achieved GreenFlag Status will not be eligible toapply for funding during the 2007/08 academic year.
Find out more
Denholm Primary Goes Green
The new Denholm Primary School, designed by the in-house architects at Scottish Borders Council, has been awarded grant assistance for its ground-breaking heating system.
View the full story.
Work Starts on Landmark Highland Project at Acharacle
Work has started on a landmark project - the Highland’s first fully
sustainable school. The new Acharacle Primary School, Ardnamurchan, will be a timber building with exceptional levels of insulation, air tightness and a minimal need for heating. The new school will have five classrooms, one of which is for shared community use, a nursery, a multi-purpose hall, separate dining facility, music practice rooms, changing rooms for both school and community use when the new community playing field is ready, an entrance foyer that that can be used as an extension of the school facilities and small community gatherings.
View the full story.
Love Food Hate Waste
Did you know that over a third of all the food that Scottish people buy ends up in the bin? The food that we throw out is not only a waste of resources, but it also produces carbon emissions that are harmful to our environment.
View the full story.
Let's "Summit" up: Edinburgh and East Lothian Schools Make Waste History
Edinburgh-based sustainable development charity Changeworks brought together pupils and teachers from 21 secondary schools for a day of action at their annual Make Waste History Summit.
The Summit, held in November at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh, provides local schools with a unique opportunity to develop key skills, share ideas and view examples of best practice to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
View the full story.
Children Must be Taught About Environmental Sustainability
A report entitled Sustainable Schools - Building, inspiring and protecting our shared future, was produced by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
It argues that it is vital young children are taught about environmental sustainability as these people will be the business leaders of the future who have to tackle issues surrounding climate change.
View the full story.
Scottish Youngsters Launch New Recycling CentresTesco has launched three new Recycling Centres in Scotland - at stores in Rutherglen ,St Rollox and Kilmarnock. The move brings the total number of automated Tesco Recycling centres in Scotland to 10, just one year after Environment Minister Richard Lochhead launched the first at the Tesco Extra store in Shettleston.
Youngsters from Annanhill Primary in Kilmarnock, St Roch's Primary in St Rollox and Toryglen Primary in Rutherglen, were joined by Tesco staff to help launch the revolutionary new Recycling Centres at their local Tesco stores.
The school children had created the winning entries in a competition to promote the launch of the new Recycling facilities. Local schools across all three areas were asked to create a snappy slogan or poem about the benefits of recycling and caring for the environment. Each winning school received a donation of £500 and each individual winner was also awarded a £100 Tesco Giftcard.
The lean green machines recycles aluminium and steel cans, plastic bottles and glass bottles and jars.
The automated Recycling Centres, are the latest of many successfully installed by Tesco throughout the UK, and are a key part of the ongoing commitment by Tesco to the local community and to the environment.
The new "one stop" Recycling Centre compacts and crushes material, which also saves on carbon emissions in collecting waste by reducing the number of journeys needed to empty them.
The recycling centre has special scanners and sensors to detect items, which have to be, deposited one item at a time.
Tesco, who pioneered the revolutionary recycling system in the UK, are investing millions in a nationwide green campaign.
Tesco Head of Recycling and Waste, Sion Stanfield said: "Recycling is a key issue for our customers and as a responsible retailer we are committed to helping our shoppers adopt green habits and lower their carbon footprints. They have asked us to make recycling easier, more fun and more convenient and this is what the new automated machines are designed to do . Glass is smashed,cans are crushed and plastic bottles granulated to reduce them to a fraction of their original size. This is recycling made easy".
And to encourage people to recycle more aluminium cans, Tesco is offering Clubcard holders one Clubcard point for every two aluminium cans recycled.
Zero Waste ScotlandThe Scottish Government has created a new programme called Zero Waste Scotland to support delivery of its Zero Waste Plan.
Zero Waste Scotland has been created to provide a one-stop-shop for support and advice to individuals, businesses and local authorities in order to help them reduce waste, recycle more and use natural resources more efficiently.
It will integrate the activities of Waste Aware Scotland. WRAP Scotland, Keep Scotland Tidy, Remade Scotland, Envirowise in Scotland, NISP in Scotland, and some programmes delivered by the Community Recycling Network for Scotland.
The full integration of these programmes will take place throughout 2010/11.
For more information see the Scottish Government website: www.scotland.gov.uk
Schools Battle It Out To Be Top of the Class with RecyclingSeveral primary schools in Edinburgh have entered a challenge to see who can improve the recycling rates in their neighbourhood. This incentive scheme, the first of its kind in Edinburgh, is part of a city-wide effort to boost recycling.
Six primary schools are participating in the inter-school challenge. The recycling collected from the red and blue kerbside recycling boxes in the area surrounding each school will be weighed and measured and the school with the biggest percentage increase will be declared winner. The winners will be announced in June.
The schools participating are: Castleview Primary School, Davidsons Mains Primary School, Kirkliston Primary School, Niddrie Mill Primary School, Queensferry Primary School and Stenhouse Primary School.
Pupils at the schools will also get to enjoy a free environmentally aware arts and crafts workshop. The winning school will walk away with a £300 cash prize for the school to spend, with a second prize of £200 and a third prize of £100. An additional prize draw of five cinema tickets will take place on Tuesday to celebrate the start of the scheme. Households were able to enter by returning a tear-off slip from a flyer handed out to school pupils.
Cllr Robert Aldridge, Environment Leader, said: "This is a great way to get young people interested in, and involved with recycling and to meet our ambitious targets we need everyone to embrace the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle message. By holding this fun competition we hope the pupils will get excited about recycling and take that enthusiasm home with them. I look forward to hearing the results in June."
Plastic Fantastic in East Ayrshire SchoolPrimary 4 children at Nether Robertland Primary are building a plastic bottle greenhouse with the help of the East Ayrshire Countryside Rangers.
The greenhouse will be built in the school's peace garden which is part of a project within the school to obtain their second Green Flag award from Eco-Schools Scotland. The Green Flag award is the top level of award in the Eco-Schools programme.
The project is going well, but more empty 2 litre plastic bottles are required! Please hand your clean plastic bottles in to the Ranger Service at Dean Castle Country Park or at the school reception.
Councillor Iain Linton, Spokesperson for Lifelong Learning, said: "This is an excellent way of recycling empty plastic bottles, turning them into something useful which will aid the progress of the school towards Green Flag status. I congratulate the head teacher, staff and pupils on an imaginative educational project and would encourage as many people as possible to start saving their plastic bottles for Nether Robertland."
For more information on the project, contact Paddy MacDonald, Countryside Ranger on 01563 554742 or email james.macdonald@east-ayrshire.gov.uk
Help us meet the magic 1,000Our close friends and colleagues at Keep Scotland Tidy and Eco-Schools Scotland are joining forces to recruit 1,000 schools to take part in National Spring Clean 2010 (www.keepscotlandtidy.org/springclean) to coincide with the anticipated 1,000th Green Flag being awarded to a Scottish school this spring.
National Spring Clean is Scotland's biggest annual litter picking campaign, which encourage as many people as possible to take part in a voluntary litter pick at some point during the month of April. Nearly 60,000 volunteers took part in April 2009 and an astonishing 377 of the litter picks that took place involved schools - but with your help we are confident we can rise to the challenge and treble that number to 1,000 schools demonstrating that they will not stand for litter in their neighbourhood in 2010.
Fabulous prizes to be won!
Keep Scotland Tidy is offering additional incentives to schools to take part in National Spring Clean 2010. Twelve lucky participating schools will be chosen at random to receive a groovy prize each!
If you represent a school, all you need to do is register a litter pick during the month of April (at www.keepscotlandtidy.org/springclean) and you could receive a wormery, composter, mixed selection of plants, willow arch, rain butt, your own child-sized litter picking equipment, or one of our other fabulous prizes when the campaign comes to a close this year.
Claim your FREE clean up kit
Organisers of registered clean ups receive a FREE clean up kit to help them get started.
Recycling for Scotland Christmas competition for Schools
Viridor, one of Scotland’s leading recycling, energy recovery and waste management companies are inviting schools to take part in this year's Viridor Christmas card competition. With the theme of 'Recycling for Scotland', the winning design will feature on Viridor's official Christmas card, printed on recycled material, and sent to their partners and customers across Scotland.
The winning entry will receive £500 of recycling equipment or book tokens for their school and a personal prize of a Nintendo DSi. The second place entry wins £100 of recycling equipment or book tokens for their school and a personal prize, with the third place submission winning £50 worth of the same for their school.
To enter, Christmas card designs with the theme 'Recycling for Scotland' should be submitted on A4 paper to Martin Grey, Viridor, Langmuir Way, Bargeddie, Glasgow, G69 7RW or scanned and emailed to scotland@viridor.co.uk by noon on Monday 30th November.
Global Warning - the Voice of Youth
Plan International, a child-centred development agency have launched an exciting New Video/Creative writing competition: "Global Warning - the Voice of Youth".
In partnership with the UK Youth Parliament, Plan UK will select 4 young people from the UK and Indonesia aged between 12-16 to attend and report from the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change in December 2009.
The winning UK journalists will:
- Get the chance to go on a press trip to Copenhagen for the summit on climate change
- Gain privileged press access to the event interview politicians, activists and report on the activities of the summit
- Receive media training from headliners.org/ and work alongside professionals who will mentor them on creating content
- Interview Ed Miliband!
- Have articles, videos, photos and thoughts published and viewed by thousands of other young people
- Feature in, and even write for, magazines, newspapers, and youth publications
For more information on how to get involved please download the competition pdf here.
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Plan is one of the largest child-centred community development organisations in the world. Plan-Ed is full of global-education projects and resources designed especially for the UK classroom. Each project comes with detailed lesson plans with clear curriculum links, photocopiable activity sheets, and supplementary photo, video and audio resources. All resources are free and designed to develop key skills in discussion, presentation, critical thinking and problem solving.
Recolight launches 'Big Light Project' for schoolsRecolight, the national recycling scheme for lighting manufacturers has launched a schools education campaign to improve public understanding of the differences between compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and traditional incandescent light bulbs. A key message will be to communicate to the public why CFLs should be recycled rather than disposed of with domestic waste.
Known as the 'Big Light Project' and aimed at children aged 8-13 years, the educational programme will feature a specially designed character - 'Professor Bright, Expert in Light', who will help to bring the topic of light alive to children in a fun and engaging way while communicating serious messages about the environment and climate change. The project will be piloted across 1,000 primary and 800 secondary schools in London and the South East beginning mid-2009, with a view to a national roll-out in future years.
Peter Lees, Commercial Manager of Recolight says: "With the current emphasis on the fulfilment of energy reduction targets in the UK, the uptake of energy efficient light bulbs (CFLs) has exceeded all expectations. But, because CFLs last so much longer than traditional incandescent bulbs, the issue of what to do with used CFLs has not been perceived as any kind of problem. People need to understand that because these bulbs contain a small amount of mercury they should not ‘throw them in the bin’ but preferably take them to a recycling centre.
"This programme is designed to reach out to young people and their families and to assist Defra and local councils in raising recycling more household waste as a general concept and also to put CFL bulbs on the wider recycling-agenda. We want to show the adults of tomorrow the important role that they can play as individuals to improve the environment for future generations."
The programme will cover a range of modules including history, technology, ICT and English in primary schools, and science, design and technology and PSHE in secondary schools. Written by a specially appointed team of industry experts and teachers, it will take students on an imaginative journey, from past to present, through to the future, touching on a number of related life issues, such as active recycling, energy efficiency and climate change. Available for use throughout the spring and summer terms, components will include a dedicated website, a competition for primary and secondary school children and an educational film.
For further information about Recolight visit www.recolight.co.uk.
Recycled airplane to be classroomA school in Stoke has recycled a commercial airplane to give wings to its expansion plans. Pupils at the Kingsland Primary School were given the chance to choose what they wanted as an extra classroom. One child suggested an airplane and the school, this week, opened the new classroom with 'first class' facilities.
The class room is a decommissioned S-360 which the school was able to buy for £11,000. The scheme, called the Kings Wings, aims to not only provide more learning space but also teaches the pupils about recycling.
Head teacher, David Lawrence, said: "The children have been involved in the design and project management of the King's Wings and will regularly use the aeroplane to help them learn.
"The children's imagination has been fired up by the idea and they are enthused and motivated and we are sure that this will lead to improved attendance, give us better and more opportunities for speaking and listening and will raise attainment.
"The project has certainly raised aspirations and has caught the wider community's interest, our aim is to use the aeroplane as a community learning resource too."
Pupils from Wellshot Primary open landmark recycling centre with Cabinet SecretaryThe first automated recycling centre at a Scottish supermarket has been opened.
The new facility at Tesco Extra in Shettleston, Glasgow, is designed to make recycling quicker, easier and more convenient as shoppers can recycle a variety of materials in the same machine.
Items accepted include cans, plastic and glass. Waste is then crushed and compacted on site resulting in fewer lorry collections, reducing carbon emissions.
Pupils from local Wellshot Primary attended the launch having been asked to produce pictures of 'what recycling means to me'. Mr Lochhead and store manager Mark Whittet presented the best entry with a prize of a £100 Tesco gift card. A donation of £500 was also made to the school.
The TOMRA recycling machine, cost Tesco around £150,000 and is the first of its kind in a Scottish supermarket making it quicker, easier and more convenient to recycle.
Watch a video clip of the new facility on The Herald's website.
Schools to go greener
Scotland's schools are to become greener under a new Government initiative to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop has announced a package of measures which will work towards a lower carbon school estate and meet the Government's commitments to have renewable generation in every school as well as contributing to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 as will be required under the Scottish Climate Change Bill.
To read the full story visit: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2009/01/05083126
Borders schools benefit from M&S eco-boostMarks & Spencer has joined forces with Scottish Borders Council to announce an exciting environmental initiative which will help to boost the eco-status of all schools in the region.
M&S, which opened its first ‘green’ store in Galashiels last year, has invested £35,000 in the Scottish Borders Schools Eco Challenge. The initiative is designed to encourage school children to identify and present a project based around an environmental theme, with a focus on sustainable development.
Participation in the competition will also help schools to achieve their goals within the Eco Schools international award programme as they work towards Bronze, Silver or the top Green Flag status. The most impressive entries will win cash prizes.
Executive Member for Education, Councillor Catriona Bhatia, said: “This is a fantastic initiative which will not only have a positive impact on pupils, their school and their surroundings but will also provide schools with an exciting challenge and a great opportunity to get some extra resources for their school.
“We are also extremely grateful to M&S for providing the additional funding to enable us to employ a dedicated officer who will be on-hand to assist schools with extra support and guidance in their bid towards achieving the highest eco-schools award possible.”
Margaret Drever, Section Manager at M&S in Galashiels said: “M&S in Galashiels was the first purpose-built eco-store in the business, so I am delighted to be involved in another ‘first’, this time with the Scottish Borders Schools Eco Challenge.
“M&S has set itself a target of becoming carbon neutral by 2012 as part of Plan A, and I look forward to combining our efforts with those of the schools to achieve a vast and sustained improvement in our local environment far into the future.”
The Eco Schools initiative will require pupils to base their projects on one or more environmental themes, including water, biodiversity, energy, healthy living, litter, school grounds, transport and waste. Judging will be based on criteria such as creativity, enthusiasm, success of implementation, impact of the project and evidence of successful links with the community or business partners.
Headed by the council’s Education & Lifelong Learning department, the project recently recruited a dedicated environmental officer who will work with schools over the next two years to drive the initiative forward.
Notes
- Plan A is M&S’ business-wide £200 million ‘eco-plan’ that will impact on every part of the M&S business over the next five years. For more details please visit www.marksandspencer.com/PlanA
- Eco Schools is an international initiative designed to encourage whole-school action for the environment. All schools across the Borders are registered eco-schools - 25 have bronze level awards, 33 have silver and six have gained their first green flags (the highest level award). Three out of these six schools have gained their second green flags following re-assessment which schools must apply for every two years. For further information on the Eco Schools programme, visit http://www.eco-schools.org.uk/
- There are a total of 65 primary schools and nine secondary schools in the Scottish Borders region
- M&S Simply Food Galashiels opened in October 2007 as the first ‘eco-store’ in the business, and incorporates the following features:
- Use of up to 25 per cent less energy than an average Simply Food store through the installation of lobby areas to improve air tightness and minimise heat and energy loss, as well as more efficient lighting, refrigeration, heating and ventilation systems
- Powered by green renewable energy, delivering a 95 per cent carbon dioxide saving
- A number of water saving initiatives, including collecting rainwater and refrigeration condensation for use in dual flush toilets, and use self-closing taps resulting in savings of up to 15 per cent of a comparable M&S store’s water consumption
- Be the first M&S Simply Food store to eliminate potential leakage of harmful HFCs (Hydro Fluoro Carbons) by using fridges that operate on hydrocarbon and CO2 refrigerants
- Use fridges fitted with guards to reduce cool air leakage which will save at least 4 per cent of the energy needed to operate each fridge
- Use recycled and recyclable materials including recyclable plastic shelving
- Use of BREEAM* A-rated materials with low or non-hazardous content and low energy processing within the specifications for ceilings and floor and wall coverings
- Provide staff with ‘eco-friendly’ uniforms including a fleece made from recycled plastic bottles
- During construction of the store, M&S and its suppliers have also recycled or re-used up to 80 per cent of waste and key construction off cuts
Scottish Universities and Colleges Urged to Reduce Reuse RecycleWaste Aware Campus, a new online resource to encourage Scottish universities and colleges to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle their waste, was launched today, Wednesday 23 July 2008, by Waste Aware Scotland.
The Waste Aware Campus website: www.wasteawarecampus.org.uk contains a number of ‘How to Guides’ providing practical information and advice for staff and students on how to set up a recycling scheme and raise awareness of waste recycling and waste prevention initiatives. A Recycling Directory allows staff to find organisations that can provide recycling collections for campuses. There is also a Poster Creator to enable staff and students to create and download posters to raise awareness and help implement campus recycling schemes.
Students can also find out how they themselves can raise awareness of waste prevention and other environmental causes in the Environmental Campaigning section of the new website.
Welcoming the move, Cabinet Secretary for the Environment Richard Lochhead said: “I am delighted to see Scotland’s university and college sector looking to tackle waste head on. It is important that staff and students alike are aware of what they can do to help as we aspire towards a Zero Waste Scotland.”
The website has also been endorsed by the Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges (EAUC) to promote waste reduction, reuse and recycling within Scottish universities and colleges.
Iain Patton, Executive Director of EAUC said: “This is a first-class resource that puts a number of very useful tools and resources under one umbrella and makes it simple for the staff on campuses to see what is relevant and available in their own local area. I’m particularly impressed by the fact that Waste Aware Campus is also an aid to students. It allows them to determine what they can do to reduce the impact of their own personal waste, whether they live at home or in a flat and gives excellent information to those who may want to consider a career in the waste industry.”
The concepts of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle are explained along with examples of how staff and students can participate in these activities on campus and in the home.
In addition, staff and students can find out how other campuses are becoming Waste Aware through the Case Studies section. Campuses are also invited to send information about their own efforts to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, which may then be featured as a case study.
For students considering a career in waste management the website contains Career Profiles and advice on how to get that all important work experience.
Whether you are a student, member of staff, or simply want to find out more, visit the new website at www.wasteawarecampus.org.uk. Comments and queries can be sent to Emma Niedzwiedz by email at campus@wasteawarescotland.org.uk.
Waste Aware Campus is funded by the Scottish Government, as part of their commitment to a Greener Scotland. To find out more, or to pledge your support, please visit www.itsourfuture.co.uk.
New study shows great potential for recycling school waste
New research published today by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) indicates that up to 78% of day-to-day waste - mainly food, paper and card - produced by schools in England could be easily recycled or composted.
More than three-quarters of day-to-day waste produced by schools could be easily recycled or composted, saving local authorities more than £6m in landfill tax, according to new research published today by WRAP.
Waste produced during the school day by England’s 20,871 primary and secondary schools is estimated at more than 250,000 tonnes each year, which is enough to fill Wembley Stadium.
Of this waste, mostly discarded food, paper and card, an estimated 78% or 200,000 tonnes could be readily recycled or composted. This could potentially save an estimated 176,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions. Recycling or composting this waste would give local authorities an environmentally-friendly alternative to landfill and could save them around £6.4 million in Landfill Tax (at £32 per tonne).
The study - which analysed a week’s-worth of waste from 24 schools in four different local authorities - found that, on average, primary schools generated 45kg of waste per pupil and secondary schools 22 kg per pupil over the 40 week academic year.
More than 70% of waste from schools comes from just two categories – food waste, and paper and card.
Recycling, rather than landfilling, waste from schools can also help local authorities to meet their LATS (Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme) allowances and potentially avoid fines for exceeding these.
WRAP commissioned the research to improve understanding of the types and quantities of waste from schools and give local authorities and other recycling service providers indicative data to aid their service planning.
WRAP says the findings are a useful indicator of the scale and nature of waste from schools and will be helpful in planning the more effective management, and hopefully greater recycling, of this type of waste. Average recycling rates for schools in the study were 13% for primary and 20% for secondary schools.
Philip Ward, WRAP’S Director of Local Government Services, commented: “With nearly 7.5 million schoolchildren in England alone, schools have a great opportunity to contribute to solving our national waste problem and educate tomorrow’s consumers. There are also immediate benefits for Council Tax payers if the cost of waste disposal can be reduced and for the environment if resources are used more effectively.
“This research highlights the potential ‘easy-win’ of collecting readily recyclable materials from a relatively small number of sites, and local authorities should be looking to see how they can help to make this happen,” he added.
WRAP offers training and advice for local authorities, as well as resources for schools, to help improve the recycling of waste from schools. WRAP will also be consulting with other agencies to explore solutions to some of the issues raised by this research as appropriate. The full report can be found at www.wrap.org.uk/schoolwaste
Love Food Hate Waste at the Royal Highland Show
This year’s Royal Highland Show was a great success for Waste Aware Scotland’s Love Food Hate Waste campaign.Based in the Children’s Discovery Centre, the team ran workshops about food waste for primary and secondary schools on Thursday and Friday. The benefits of buying local and seasonal food were highlighted to families over the weekend with the help of giant dominoes which were covered in seasonal berries in place of spots!
The event also saw the launch of the Love Food Hate Waste Schools competition. The children were asked to come up with a hint, tip or recipe idea to help reduce food waste. The best entry will receive a smoothie-maker for their school. The competition is still open, click here to enter.
Love Food Hate Waste is a nation-wide initiative developed by Waste Aware Scotland, to encourage the Scottish public to be more waste aware in its attitude to food.
The campaign focuses on four key areas to help reduce food waste – planning and preparation, storing food, recipe ideas and portioning. The campaign website www.wasteawarelovefood.org.uk offers a collection of hints, tips, recipes and advice from Scotland’s best loved chefs and food writers.
Waste Aware Scotland’s Home Composting campaign team were also at the show. They taught children which key things they could compost at home and at school. Many schools across Scotland have started to compost as part of their EcoSchools journey. You can find out more about composting at home at the campaign website.
Pupils examine environmental issues
Pupils from Stirling had the opportunity to see where their waste goes at first hand recently when they visited the Council’s waste management facility at Lower Polmaise.Over 360 primary and secondary school pupils took advantage of the chance to visit Lower Polmaise to find out what happens to the waste that they put into their grey and brown wheelie bins.
Many schools within the Stirling Council area are working on environmental projects, including looking at the issues of waste and recycling, and the resulting problems facing future generations.
Stirling Council’s Waste Education Officer for Schools, Avril Robertson said: “These visits have been running for 7 years now, and again this year we have been inundated with requests from classes and schools to visit the Lower Polmaise Waste Management Complex. This illustrates the theory behind the work that the children are doing and it has been extremely pleasing to see how knowledgeable the children are when taking them on the tour of the facility, with plenty of questions about waste and recycling. The teachers and adults accompanying the children on the tours also have come away saying that it has made them think more about what should be recycled or composted.”
Scottish secondary schools take control of their waste budget“What Rot!” - Little Rotters are composting winners!
Today children in nurseries and primary schools across Edinburgh and East Lothian dug deep into their compost bins and cleaned out their wormeries so that they could enter the coveted ‘What Rot!’ composting competition. Blackhall Primary came out as a double winner for ‘Best Worm Compost’ and ‘Best Model Bin at a Nursery’, whilst St Leonards Nursery School won ‘Best Compost’ and Dirleton Primary in East Lothian won ‘Best Model Bin at a Primary School’.The competition has been extremely popular yet again. Eleven local schools and nurseries brought their compost with them, whilst several others arrived by post - all in the hope of winning the fantastic “What Rot!” composting and wormery trophies, plus £100 of gardening vouchers to help develop their schools grounds. Winners of the ‘Best Model Compost Bin’ each won £50 of gardening vouchers.
While the judges carefully deliberated over the entries, the children had the opportunity to get up close with the live inhabitants of a compost bin and plant a ‘seed of hope’. Local musician and entertainer Dougie Hudson from Natural Grooves also performed a noisy ‘compost bin show’ to get adults, children and the worms dancing!
Changeworks’ Waste Education Service has been working with over fifty nursery and primary schools from Edinburgh and East Lothian to help them to recycle their organic waste. Schools that entered the composting competition received free interactive composting workshops, compost bins and classroom caddies. Schools already composting have aimed to get even more out of their bins this year. Changeworks’ Dr Compost volunteers helped them out by giving their existing bins a health check. Some schools have even taken things to the next level by using wormeries as the new school pets.
The success of this competition is a fantastic reflection of the phenomenal motivation of staff and pupils and shows that local schools and nurseries can all help the environment by recycling more.
Scottish secondary schools take control of their waste budget
We all know that we need to recycle more and produce less waste, but what would you do if you had control over your schools budget to ensure less waste was produced? A competition organised by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), invited all third year pupils from secondary schools in Scotland to participate in a national waste prevention competition.
The pupils were asked to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various waste prevention strategies that could be used in their school. Pupils were asked to submit a powerpoint presentation and the finalists were invited to give an oral presentation in front of a panel of judges.
The final was held at the Perth Concert Hall on Wednesday, 12 March 2008 and was judged by a panel consisting of SEPA, EcoSchools and sponsors of the most creative winners prize; Taylor Ltd. The presentations were of an exceptional standard and although the judges found it difficult to make a decision, the results were as follows:
- Most Creative category winners were Trinity High School, Hamilton
- Best Researched category winners were Smithycroft Secondary School, Glasgow
- Best Presented category winners were Nairn Academy, Nairn.
Sarah Lee of SEPA said: “The judges were very impressed with the standard of presentations and interest shown by the pupils, and we would all like to offer their congratulations to all the schools that took part in the competition. We had a great response to the competition and I think everyone thoroughly enjoyed the day, I know I certainly did!”
SEPA believes it is vitally important to increase awareness of waste prevention issues amongst this age group, and provide a practical and fun opportunity for S3 pupils to engage with the curriculum. In addition, this event provided a great chance for pupils to expand their team-working, presentational and creative skills.
WEEE recycle-more – Glasgow Poster Competition!
www.recycle-more.co.uk in partnership with Wincanton recycling, is launching a poster competition for young people in the Glasgow area to promote recycling of waste electronics (WEEE) in the local community. The competition is open to school children or youth group members aged 12-14 and the winning poster will be professionally enlarged and pasted onto the rescapeTM banks at the Easter Queenslie recycling site; one of four sites with facilities for recycling WEEE in Glasgow. In addition, the winner’s school or group will receive an expenses-paid trip to the Glasgow Science Museum and its IMAX Theatre.
All the entries received will be scanned and posted onto a dedicated recycle-more web page. Sam Blades, recycle-more Manager, commented ‘this competition is a great opportunity for schools to engage with the local community. It also provides an innovative way to cover the requirements of the syllabus in this area.’
Valpak’s Director of Marketing Duncan Simpson said ‘The Glasgow competition is being run as a pilot scheme and we will hopefully be looking to run similar promotions in other areas of the UK later in the year’.
For more information please contact Ellie Williams, ellie.williams@valpak.co.uk, and keep an eye on the recycle-more site for the latest developments!
Fantastic new funding opportunity for Scottish Eco SchoolsHas your school gained its Eco-Schools Silver Award? Are youthinking of going for the Green Flag in the near future?
Thanks to the support of Currys and their ‘Switched on Communities’ programme, Scottish schools which have gained their Eco-Schools Silver Award will now have the opportunity to apply for funding to help them progress towards Green Flag status.
Please note that schools which have already achieved GreenFlag Status will not be eligible toapply for funding during the 2007/08 academic year.
Find out more
Denholm Primary Goes Green
The new Denholm Primary School, designed by the in-house architects at Scottish Borders Council, has been awarded grant assistance for its ground-breaking heating system.
View the full story.
Work Starts on Landmark Highland Project at Acharacle
Work has started on a landmark project - the Highland’s first fully sustainable school. The new Acharacle Primary School, Ardnamurchan, will be a timber building with exceptional levels of insulation, air tightness and a minimal need for heating. The new school will have five classrooms, one of which is for shared community use, a nursery, a multi-purpose hall, separate dining facility, music practice rooms, changing rooms for both school and community use when the new community playing field is ready, an entrance foyer that that can be used as an extension of the school facilities and small community gatherings.
View the full story.
Love Food Hate Waste
Did you know that over a third of all the food that Scottish people buy ends up in the bin? The food that we throw out is not only a waste of resources, but it also produces carbon emissions that are harmful to our environment. View the full story.
Let's "Summit" up: Edinburgh and East Lothian Schools Make Waste History
Edinburgh-based sustainable development charity Changeworks brought together pupils and teachers from 21 secondary schools for a day of action at their annual Make Waste History Summit.
The Summit, held in November at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh, provides local schools with a unique opportunity to develop key skills, share ideas and view examples of best practice to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
View the full story.
Children Must be Taught About Environmental Sustainability
A report entitled Sustainable Schools - Building, inspiring and protecting our shared future, was produced by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
It argues that it is vital young children are taught about environmental sustainability as these people will be the business leaders of the future who have to tackle issues surrounding climate change.
View the full story.
