Not a health problem but a new
approach to food disposal in schools.
What happens to all those leftover sandwiches and buns
that school children throw away?
Recent audit checks on
schools in West Auckland discovered that food waste made up a large
part of school rubbish currently being disposed of in incinerators.
However with the new air emission standards currently being drafted
by the Auckland Regional Council incinerator use will probably be
stopped within the next two years - so what happens to rubbish then?
Worms in the classroom
Keen to help schools avoid
disposal costs and cut down on waste going to landfills, the
Waitakere City Council have come up with a novel idea to help
eliminate a large part of the problem by introducing worm bins in
classrooms. Children are encouraged to feed their leftover scraps to
the worms who chew through the scraps and generate very rich compost
for the garden. Currently ten schools are taking part in the project
with much enthusiam.
Initially Brigid Preston, the Council officer co-ordinating the
project, goes into the classroom and talks to the children. Each of
the participating schools are given a starter kit which includes a
book of classroom activities on waste disposal as well as the bin
and its occupants - up to 2000 worms! Brigid then makes a return
visit to the schools after three or four months to check how things
are going.
Already children have noticed some likes and dislikes of their
new inmates. Orange peel takes a long time to decompose, whereas
bread and soft fruit vanish pretty quickly.
Composting garden waste
The worm trial is mainly to
raise awareness of alternative solutions. By itself it will not
solve the rubbish problem for schools but it is hoped that children
will tell their parents about worm composting which is an ideal
answer to household kitchen waste. The Council is also targeting
school caretakers and composting seminars have been organised.
Hopefully other groups and individuals will help spread the
message around. We all need to do our bit to help care for the
environment, and reducing our weekly rubbish disposal is a good way
to start.
For further information you can contact Brigid at:
www@waitakere.govt.nz
