Pupils from six Scottish primary and secondary schools have come up with new and effective ways for schools and families to save waste and money.
The results of the Zero Waste Schools Pilot, run by Edinburgh-based circular economy organisation, Ostrero, was revealed on Thursday morning at the Edinburgh Futures Institute.
Around 50 pupils from the six participating schools presented the changes they designed and made, and their impact, to an audience of decision makers from government and local authorities.
Mary Michel, Ostrero co-founder and director, said: “Young people want to improve their schools and their communities – this project empowered them to do that.
“At the same time schools tell us that they would love to find ways to cut waste and save money, but don’t know where to start.
“This pilot found ways to achieve that – and the really important thing is that they are all ideas that the children came up with themselves and that have been fully tested.
“These are imaginative, straightforward – and often fun – ways to make small changes that have a big impact.”
Laura Marshall, Teacher, Echline Primary School said: “Learning how to reduce waste in our school and community has helped us to create a more sustainable environment and encouraged young people to see problems like waste as opportunities for creativity and change. As part of the Zero Waste Schools pilot, the young people have used their voices to share ideas and run initiatives that encourage everyone to reduce waste.”
The school projects:
Castleview Primary, Craigmillar, Edinburgh
Project: Packed lunch redesign
Casper, of Castleview Primary P7, said: “We hope that our ideas for better packed lunches will mean that children all over Scotland can help their schools cut waste and save money.”
Fay from P5 added: “It was good seeing how a small change had such a big impact.”
A key part of this project involved taking out water bottles and making yoghurts optional. It prevented 20,026 pieces of single use plastic from coming into the school and saved £16,000 in a year. If the redesign was adopted in every primary school in Scotland it would cut out almost 39 million pieces of single use packaging and save over £31 million.
- The UK uses 12bn single use plastic drinks bottles a year. Source: UK government
Portobello High School, Edinburgh
Projects: Reuse fairs, reusable cups, battles of the bin
Clothing reuse fairs are held before Christmas each year. Last year they retained more than 1,000 pieces of clothing in circulation.
- The UK throws out 300,000 tonnes of clothes a year, less than a fifth is recycled. Source: Business Waste
Echline Primary, South Queensferry
Projects: Hallowe’en costume swap plus a book and toy swap
Pupils gathered 300 costumes. They lent out 200 of these to pupils and donated the remaining 100 to charity shops. P6 pupils gathered 340 books and toys and gave out 240. The remaining 100 were donated to their school’s classroom libraries.
- The UK throws away seven million Hallowe’en costumes a year, with 69% made from non-recyclable plastics, going to landfill or being incinerated. Two in five are only worn once. The average costume costs £15.56 adding up to £510m. Source: Hubbub
St Peter’s Primary, Edinburgh
Project: Holy Handover
Pupils gathered dresses and suits for Holy Communion. These were then made available for the next year’s pupils, saving money and reusing the clothing. This then led to Hallowe’en and Christmas Jumper swaps using the same model.
At the event on Thursday Ostrero also launched their Zero Waste Schools Guide which will be sent to all schools in Scotland by Qualifications Scotland. This is intended to encourage schools to introduce schemes of their own.
Rosemary Mooney, Responsible Business Manager at Qualifications Scotland, said: “Sustainability and the Circular Economy are vital areas of learning that feature across many of our qualifications, so we are delighted to collaborate with Ostrero on bringing this Zero Waste Schools Guide to schools across Scotland.
“The programme helps embed an understanding of everyday circularity into young people’s education in a practical and meaningful way, supporting the continued development of skills among Scotland’s young people.”
Dr Lucy J. Wishart, Programme Director MSc in Circular Economy, Edinburgh Futures Institute, University of Edinburgh, added: “I am delighted to be able to showcase the work of the Zero Waste Schools Project in this event.
“The creative and thoughtful circular interventions the pupils have identified align closely with our approach – where we value critical thinking for solution-focused ideas to support everyday circularity as part of the systemic shift towards a more circular future.
“Embedding the capabilities to challenge, create and change systems is key to achieving more circular and sustainable futures and it’s really encouraging to see how these young people have developed this learning through their projects.”
This year is Ostrero’s tenth anniversary and the event also celebrates its achievements in circular economy education and solutions over that time. https://ostrero.com
All photos Alan Rennie
