We are Westburn School’s Environment Team and we are keen to find a way to reduce the amount of rubbish in our school.

This term we took samples of each team’s rubbish and recycling and looked at what was in the correct bin and what wasn’t. We found that there was a lot of paper in the rubbish bin that could’ve been recycled but some classrooms didn’t even have recycling bins! We have calculated that there is about 800 kilograms of rubbish per year from our school alone.

One of the worst things to put into a rubbish bin is food. We found yoghurt, lollypop and oat bars in our rubbish bins. When food gets buried in landfills, it decomposes without oxygen and releases methane. Methane is worse than carbon dioxide and is hugely responsible for the earth's temperature rise. 

Our goal is to ensure that every classroom has a recycling bin and knows what is supposed to go in it.

By Elizabeth, Neve & Carina