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Orford Primary School
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Waste
Management Enterprise Programme |
Background
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Last year all the students and
staff at Orford Primary School completely changed their habits in relation
to dealing with waste materials. Prior to 2002, rubbish from our school
was just collected unsorted from each classroom and taken to the local
tip, where it was dumped in the landfill. An amazing amount of paper was
wasted and only used on one side. |
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We set ourselves some ambitious goals for 2002 and
achieved them. We are happy with the changes that we have implemented and
reducing, re-using, recycling has become a habit with everyone at our
school. Full details of our efforts last year can be obtained from our
website at
http://orford.tased.edu.au/rubbish_1.htm |
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This
Year’s Project
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Structure of the Programme |
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Following the tremendous success and enthusiasm of
our school’s Waste Management drive in 2002, we decided that we needed to
take a step further and try to find ways of using our school’s waste
materials to make some money. |
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We especially wanted to do something productive with
our shredded paper and cardboard as these were the most prolific items of
“rubbish” in our school. We decided that the year 2003 would be the year
to try to find an enjoyable, creative and productive way of using our junk
to make some money for our school. We wanted to put our junk to work for
us! |
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Firstly we experimented with stuffing beanbag,
cushion and footstool covers with shredded scrap paper instead of
expensive polystyrene balls. For information about the way we deal with
used paper at Orford Primary School, read this page of our website:
http://orford.tased.edu.au/rubbish_8.htm The school’s paper shredder
was relocated from the office to the hub of activities, the Grade 5/6
classroom. |
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The stuffing worked very well, especially in the
footstools. However, it tended to make the beanbags a bit heavy so we
didn’t do many of those. |
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We purchased new or used covers in good condition
from op shops. Stuffing the covers was a very messy job and we became
very adept at doing a quick pre-vacuum before our school cleaner could see
the extent of the mess we really made! |
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Students were very helpful and generous about
sitting on the stools and beanbags to compress the paper even further.
Shredded paper was also stuffed into old milk cartons with sawdust for use
as fire bricks. Students experimented with quantities and took some home
to test them. This also helped us do something useful with the daily
stack of milk cartons in the staffroom recycling bin. |
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We also used some of our shredded paper to make more
paper. This was a fun activity and the paper produced was quite good in
quality. Some of our students put together very attractive scrapbooks
from the handmade paper. Offcuts from this were again reshredded and put
back into the system. Left over paper pulp was used in the school’s
compost bin. We don’t waste anything at Orford Primary School! |
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Teams of 5/6 students worked together to use “junk”
to make other saleable products. Photo frames, notepaper cubes and
toyboxes were just some of the products. We also collected up books that
had been withdrawn from the school library because they were tatty or a
bit dated. We thought that selling them to students and members of the
public was a good way for them to find a new lease of life.
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Students and teachers also cleaned out their old
toys and books to add to the items for sale. We knew it was time for a
sale when Grade 5/6 room began to resemble an op shop! |
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Community Involvement and Sustainability
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We launched our products with an end-of-term sale in
the local hall. Members of the public were invited to come. We
advertised through our local newspaper, school newsletters and with
posters on shop noticeboards. Large signs were painted on some of our
excess packaging cardboard. The community supported us well and we raised
just over $200as well as managing to dispose of a lot of junk. |
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Some community members have just restarted up a
business co-operative in Triabunna called “Such is Life” and we have been
approached to start supplying them with our footstools. This will be
an excellent incentive for us to continue using our shredded paper as
stuffing. |
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As the business becomes more established, we should
also be able to channel some of our other products their way.
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It had been intended that we would also put together
a booklet of tips for reusing common products. Although a start has been
made, we realise that this will not be completed in time for the
competition. We do intend to carry this over until next year and use our
own homemade paper for the covers. |
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The Grade 5/6 class directed and managed the
programme under the direction of teacher Fran Read but other students and
parents in our school community helped greatly. It is continuing. |
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Evaluation
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These are our original objectives and our evaluation
of how well we achieved them. |
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 To
find ways of productively using the shredded waste paper from our school. |
We certainly achieved
this! There were even times when some of our students were secretly
wishing we had some more shredded paper!
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To
find ways of using the cardboard packaging that inevitably comes with
supplies to the office and canteen. |
We managed this to a certain extent by
making large signs, toyboxes, scenery, props for performances and the
fire-starters but we still seemed to have a lot of cardboard left.
Perhaps we need to think “bigger” next year.
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To
encourage teamwork within the school as we all work towards common goals. |
The whole project engendered an
excellent atmosphere of teamwork and co-operation as students helped each
other with great cheerfulness. Teamwork was especially needed when
polystyrene beads escaped from the used footstools!
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To
inspire other people to think about re-using materials. |
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The whole project has been one of
“leading by good example”. Although our booklet has not yet been
published, our own re-use of materials has been an inspiration to others,
including both younger students and adults in the community. |
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To
provide opportunities for members of the general community to share their
skills and ideas with young people. |
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We have definitely reaped the benefits
of having eager parent helpers with crafty talents and other staff members
from our school. With the new Co-operative opening in Triabunna, perhaps
even more people will be persuaded to help out with the continuation of
our project. |
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To
make some money for our school. |
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So far we’ve made more than we’ve
spent, so this is a good thing! We’ve been thinking that one of our first
purchases should be a new vacuum cleaner to help out the one that we’ve
had to use so continuously in our classroom lately! |
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To get some publicity
about what we are doing so that our local Council is inspired to think
seriously about waste management issues.
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We have had plenty of publicity but
it’s hard to judge whether it has made any impact on our local Council. A
small transfer station is currently being constructed on the site of the
Orford Tip. We anxiously await developments!
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The
Future
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Although we are submitting our
competition entry early and Mrs Read is heading off for Long Service Leave,
the project will continue at Orford Primary School, led by present and
future Grade 5/6 class members. More innovations will be tried and tested
next term as well as next year, and we will continue to make our junk work for us.
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