Since Cliff Lane primary school started working towards being an Eco-school, issues surrounding waste have been high on the agenda. To show that the school was committed to improving this area, it entered a pledge to recycle with Suffolk County Council Waste Education Team and has seen a dramatic turn around in the last two years. Its first success was to introduce a paper bank into each classroom and the office. The school also installed a paper bank in the school grounds for use by parents and local residents, when the school is open. Thus most of the school’s waste paper is now recycled.
The next step was try sorting rubbish. The school had three commercial wheelie bins that were collected weekly and taken to landfill. One of these was replaced with a recycling bin, and blue bins were placed with waste bins in all classrooms and offices so that our waste could be sorted at source. This worked so well, that a second residual waste bin was soon replaced with a recycling one. Now, only one bin of residual waste is taken to landfill each week and two are sent for recycling. A change from bringing crisps and other snacks at playtime to a fruit-only scheme meant that the school could introduce a compost collection, and suitable green waste is now composted on the school site.
The school council asked if textiles could be recycled, resulting in a scheme where a termly collection was made and children brought in textiles on the day of collection. This has now moved on, and a textile bank is now located near our paper bank in the school grounds that can be used any time the school is open. A facility for mobile phones and ink cartridges to be recycled through our school office is also in place. Finally, the school collects all used postage stamps. These are handed on to the Ipswich RSPB Group to help support the Albatross Appeal.