Petone Central School
Establishing a recycling system using worm farms and composting facilities
PETONE CENTRAL SCHOOL
Recycling using worm farms and composting
To get the most out of its funding the school decided to do a total review of current practices around waste school wide, including its cleaners and caretaker.
At the beginning of Term 2 2018, the teachers introduced recycling as a curriculum topic. During this time recycling bin stations for each classroom were ordered. The placement of the bin stations and recycling systems were put in place and Senior Monitors were put in charge, with support by staff.
The school also engaged with the Sustainability Trust who completed an assessment, ran education sessions and created mini worm farms with the Junior school.
Seniors have been taught how to run their worm farms successfully. The school is working in partnership with the Sustainability Trust (which kindly donated the worm farms and worms) to reduce its waste. As a result, the paper and waste collection has already been reduced by a third and it is hoped to achieve a 50% reduction in Term 1 of 2019.
In spring 2018 the school purchased compost, mulch and fertiliser to boost its fruiting orchard.
The funding from Hutt Mana Charitable Trust was greatly appreciated and helped the school to purchase the recycling stations for classrooms and the staff room, compost buckets, mulch, compost, plants and garden tools.