Hagley Farm Primary pupils have proven age is no barrier to getting things done, writing letters to Meander Valley Council to seek help reducing the school’s waste footprint.
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Last term pupils in grade 3-4 did a unit of work on sustainability, learning about how their school managed waste, where it went when thrown in the rubbish bin, and what they could do about it.
Teacher Wendy Daalder said as part of their studies, the pupils had a visit from Northern Tasmania Waste Management Group’s Mary Gill who helped the pupils learn what could and couldn’t be recycled.
“We also went to the Deloraine Waste Transfer Station and we saw how recycling happens once the recycling trucks arrive at the site,” she said.
Back at school the pupils then ran a waste audit, discovering a huge amount of items that could have been recycled.
They set up two bins, one for food scraps to feed to the school’s farm pigs, and another for composting.
But, Mrs Daalder said, the pupils weren’t satisfied that they had done enough – so they wrote to Meander Valley Council asking for the school to be included on the recycling collection round.
On Friday Meander Valley mayor Craig Perkins and Councillor Tanya King visited the school to present three kerbside recycling bins to the pupils.
Cr Perkins said it wasn’t often council was contacted by such young petitioners, and the pupils had done an excellent job addressing the waste issue.
“It was absolutely fantastic, and it just empowers the kids because they see that they can actually get something done on a local scale,” Mrs Daalder said.