KEY POINTS:
Every school student on the Coromandel Peninsula will be doing their bit to save Mother Earth.
All 23 schools have signed up to two nationwide programmes, including Paper4trees, which give native trees to schools that recycle paper and cardboard.
Each classroom in each school will receive a 30-litre recycling bin, posters, and be rewarded with a locally grown tree, flax or grass to beautify the school.
The aim is to reduce the cost of rubbish to the community and the environment as part of a partnership between Thames-Coromandel District Council and local school children.
And the Zero Waste Education programme, which consists of four 45-minute lessons for classes, is designed to educate pupils about reducing, reusing, recycling and composting waste and sustainability and water use.
"We've been investigating which programmes might work best for our communities and fit with the work that the council does, and decided this was a great programme worthy of support," said council operations manager Greg Hampton.
The programmes have been run for the council by former school teacher and principal Bruce Trask from the Environmental Education for Resource Sustainability Trust and Thames-based recycling educator Rosalie Howard.
Paper4Trees is now in 1032 schools in New Zealand, with Manaia being the 1000th school to register.
Mr Trask said schools would probably save waste disposal fees with better systems in place to sort and recycle their rubbish.
