Turning trash into teachable moments: How EcoSolutions is helping schools rethink rubbish

Here’s a pleasant visual: your rubbish bin. Picture it, in all its glory… 

Now imagine that same rubbish collected over three days… a week… a month… a year.

In your mind’s eye, have a little rummage around. What do you see…? 

This is the question posed to students and teachers across Te Taitokerau when the Waste Wise programme comes to their school. Jo Shanks, EcoSolutions Manager, is quick to stress that this is a ‘no judgement’ exercise – it’s a useful way to collect data and better understand waste and what to do with it.  

To begin the programme, schools take part in a waste audit by collecting three days’ worth of rubbish. Students identify the main waste issues themselves, and then Jo and her team   prepare a report estimating how much waste the school produces over a year and how this contributes to their carbon footprint. For example, if a school collects three days’ worth of paper that would otherwise go to the bin, Jo provides a report showing what that adds up to annually and the impact it could have on the environment.  

“We’re not there to be a restrictive or onerous system.” 

While the programme aims to help schools understand what can be reduced, reused, recycled, upcycled, or disposed of, there is no one-size-fits-all ‘zero waste’ method. Instead, Waste Wise meets schools where they are at, supporting them to reduce waste in ways that suit their needs and feel achievable.  

“We’re there to support – we’re not there to be a restrictive or onerous system,” Jo explains. “It’s about what you’re capable of dealing with.”  

The work is so diverse that days vary from helping schools divert paper from landfill to recycling to reusing old desk frames for worm farms, building a pizza oven to sewing classes, and providing 100 students with stainless steel plates for their lunches in schools.  

“If it does not need to go into the landfill, it’s not going to go there.” 

The programme has a high success rate. Many of the schools in the Far North are zero waste or actively reducing their waste. And how to define zero waste? Jo sums it up quite nicely, “if it does not need to go into the landfill, it’s not going to go there.” 

“You don’t have to learn about the climate and quake in your boots” 

Climate Anxiety is defined as “the anxiety related to current and predicated environmental damage or loss, particularly from the climate crisis” (Ojala et al., 2021, p. 37).  Recent studies are exploring the growing impact climate anxiety has on young people in Aotearoa and around the world. In a 2021 study of 10,000 students aged 16-24 from 10 counties, 45% of young people said their feelings about climate change affected their daily lives and ability to function. 

“There’s a lot of kids out there with climate anxiety,” says Jo. “We’re seeing younger and younger kids, around 7 or 8, feeling like they should be doing something.” She believes that people feel more empowered when they realise there are simple everyday actions, they can take to support the climate. “Our role at Waste Wise is to empower people, not to terrify them.” 

Of course, it is not the responsibility of young people to save the world, but many students are already making a massive difference in their communities and for the environment. Jo wants young people to know you can have a job and help the environment at the same time.  

Want to know more? 

The Waste Wise programme is an EcoSolutions initiative and is supported by Far North District Council and Whangarei District Council. With plenty of resources available, schools don’t need to wait for Waste Wise to visit – teachers can run their own zero waste initiatives. But, as Jo says, “we love coming in!” So don’t hesitate to get in touch for support or to start a programme in your kura!  

There’s no pressure, no exams, and no way to fail the Waste Wise programme. “If a school has something big happening , we step back and let them take care of it,” Jo explains. “When they’re ready for us to return, we come back. It’s all about what you’re able to manage.” 

While the programme works with primary and intermediate schools, Waste Wise is also available for high schools and workplaces.  

“We’re there to help them realise their dreams of sustainability. We’re not there telling them how to change the world. We’re helping them to decide what they want to do.”