Waste management remains an extremely high profile and priority issue in Northern Ireland. If we are to preserve our environment for future generations we must change our habits and modernise our approach to managing our waste.

 

Why?  Landfilling waste is no longer sustainable. There are now fewer landfill sites and the cost of waste disposal is expected to significantly increase over the coming years. Both the European Union and Central Government have imposed waste diversion targets on Local Councils.

 

 

How must we change? We must now look at not only Reusing and Recycling our waste but also ways in which we can Reduce the amount of waste we produce in the first place (the 3 R’s). Education will play a key role in changing our behaviour and mindset and increasing our understanding of sustainable living.

 

                 

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION PROGRAMME

The Council is currently offering educational talks and activities to all schools, community groups, churches and other interested organisations. These talks cover a range of topics in the areas of waste awareness and are provided free of charge. Our talks to schools can be adapted to all Key Stage groups and run in conjunction with the current curriculum.

Please find below a list of activities and talks available as part of our Educational Programme.

 

Reduce, Re-use and Recycle talk.                                                                         KS1, KS2, KS3

Video and visual, interactive presentation and activity designed to show children the problems rubbish can cause within the world and encourage them to reduce, re-use and recycle.

 

 Tri-Cycle talk                                                      Churches/Community Groups/Organisations

Visual and interactive presentation to highlight problems with waste. Information is given on the council’s kerbside recycling scheme, what it entails and how it will help to reduce waste in Castlereagh.

 

Sword and Shield Activity                                                                                                           KS2

Children make swords and shields out of old cardboard and old clean tinfoil. This fun activity is designed to encourage children to see waste as a valuable material.

 

Litter Lift                                                                                                                                           KS2

We can provide instruction, assistance, litter pickers and bags for classes, if they want to organise a litter lift and survey in their school grounds.

  

Contacts

If you would like to obtain further information, or to arrange a talk for your school, youth or community group etc, or to request further posters, please contact:

Alison Curtis, Recycling & Environment Officer

(028) 9049600.

 

     

What's it all about?

Eco schools is a great way to make sustainable development a part of the life and ethos of your school. Designed to fit ito the curriculum, it's an award scheme that gets everyone in the school community involved in making the school environment better.

 

What is Eco Schools?

Eco Schools is much more than an environmental management system for schools. It is a programme for promoting environmental awareness in a way that links to many curriculum subjects, including citizenship, personal, social and health education (PSHE) and education for sustainable development. It is also an award scheme that will raise the profile of your school in the wider community.

The Eco Schools process is holistic. It works by involving the whole school (pupils, teachers, non-teaching staff and governors) together with members of the local community (parents, the local authority, the media and local businesses). It will encourage teamwork and help to create a shared understanding of what it takes to run a school in a way that respects and enhances the environment.

Eco Schools offers your school:

·  an opportunity to make environmental issues a part of the life of the school

·  an opportunity to help develop young people's decision-making skills

·  curriculum materials and ideas for projects and events

·  access to a network of support agencies

·  links with other schools in the UK and Europe

·  a prestigious award

·  opportunities for local and national publicity

·  potential for financial savings.

It requires:

·  the support of the headteacher and governors

·  a willingness to involve pupils in decision-making and action at every stage

·  active involvement of staff and the wider school community

·  a willingness to take action to instigate long-term change.

 

How does Eco Schools work?

The Eco Schools programme involves three main stages:

1. implementing the seven elements of the process
2. applying for one of the three Eco Schools awards - a bronze-level award, a silver-level award or a Green Flag - depending on how much you have achieved
3. renewing your award every two years

 

The Eco Schools process

The structure of the Eco Schools process is made up of seven elements. You must have gone some way towards implementing all of them before applying for an award.

The seven elements are as follows:

1. setting up an Eco-Committee to take the programme forward
2. carrying out an environmental review to identify problem areas
3. creating and carrying out an action plan to set environmental targets and working towards achieving them
4. monitoring and evaluating your progress in working towards your targets
5. integrating your environmental activities with the school's curriculum
6. involving the whole school and the wider community in your environmental activities, making sure you are generating regular publicity
7. creating an Eco-Code that sets out the school's aims and mission.

 

What are the benefits?

Greater awareness and respect for the environment, cash savings on bills and better links with the local community are just some of the benefits of becoming an Eco School. But don’t take our word for it. Here’s what a few teachers and a pupil have to say about their experience of the Eco Schools scheme.

 

Applying for an Eco Schools award

Once you have implemented the seven elements of the Eco Schools process you can apply for an Eco Schools award. There are three levels of award:

• bronze award
• silver award
• Green Flag

You can apply for any one of these levels depending on how much you feel your school has achieved. The process section contains details of the criteria used to judge what level of award a school should be granted. The criteria will help to give you an idea of what stage your school has reached and what level of award you could apply for.

 

WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT ECO-SCHOOLS

Please log onto http://www.eco-schools.org.uk

 

         

Schools Recycling Scheme

More people than ever are concerned about the environment and want to make a difference.

 

In addition to the production of education materials and the delivery of educational talks and programmes, it was decided to introduce a practical recycling element within schools. Learning through practical experience is considered by many to be an important principle for incorporation into any education programme; therefore introducing recycling schemes in schools is an important aspect of changing attitudes to waste.

 

Castlereagh Borough Council delivers the Scheme in partnership with Bryson House, who currently provide a kerbside collection of mixed dry recyclables to over 2500 domestic households in the Borough.

 

Each participating school is provided with additional bins for inside and outside the school, specifically for the collection of recyclable waste. Materials that are collected are paper, cardboard, cans and plastic bottles.

 

In each classroom there is a collection container for waste paper, and a number of recycling points will be set up throughout the school. These will be like mini bring sites, where pupils can bring their plastic bottles, aluminium cans and paper.

 

Each school is also provided with additional 1100L bins for the storage of materials for collection.

 

Bryson House regularly service these bins of which there is a charge. This charge has to be met by the school involved.

 

However, the segregation of recyclable waste should dramatically reduce the amount of waste in the normal waste stream, therefore reducing the collection costs for this type of waste. Therefore, the introduction of this Scheme should not incur any additional costs for the schools involved.

All schools in the Castlereagh Borough were invited to participate, with over 50% having joined the Scheme so far.

 

Castlereagh Borough Council is hoping to extend the Scheme to all the schools in the Borough with the subsequent installment of the funding.

 

For Further Information please contact:

 

Alison Curtis, Recycling & Environment Officer on 028 9049 4600. Alternatively you can contact Bryson Recycling 028 9084 8494.

 

Alison Curtis, Recycling and Environment Officer, Castlereagh Borough Council 028 9049 4627

Bryson House 028 9084 8494