Pupils embrace recycling plan

SOMETHING OLD: Mauriceville School pupils, from left rear, Leila Ward and Charlie Sims, and from front left, Theo Wing, Daiton Souden and Chance Matthews, with some of the items that were part of the Swap and Exchange scheme. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Students and staff at Mauriceville School have rounded up their recyclable rubbish and founded a swap and exchange scheme to help their community to reduce, recycle and reuse.

Principal Rebecca Stevens said the school was part of the Enviroschools Foundation and late last year, students and staff had completed a waste audit and "determined they could get the waste they produce down to a minimal level".

Enviroschools is a non-profit trust that involves a network of about 240,000 students from 30 per cent of the schools in New Zealand. According to the organisation's website, the trust comprises an "action-based approach to education through which children and young people plan, design and implement sustainable projects and become catalysts for change in their families and the wider community".

Mrs Stevens said Mauriceville School students had reduced the volume of rubbish they were producing, and had looked to repeat their successes beyond the classroom.

"Last year they produced one council rubbish bag a week on average. This has been reduced by students and staff who more carefully sort their rubbish, and are composting more, reusing and recycling more paper, plastic and glass, and taking home food wrappers and glad wrap with them," Mrs Stevens said.

"Students wanted to encourage and help their community become more aware of the reuse, reduce and recycle message."

Students and staff had organised a week where community members may bring to the school their reusable goods "that they no longer use or need, so people who may need items can take them home and use them", Mrs Stevens said.

There was no cost to participate in the scheme, Mrs Stevens said, and leftover items would be donated to the Wairarapa SPCA Opportunity shop in Masterton.

She said school and community members had brought a range of items to the school, including books, children and adults clothing, crockery, toys, sports equipment

"We have organised this initiative because there are no longer any rubbish or recycling facilities in the Mauriceville area.

"Our community wants to be environmentally sustainable - reusing is one way of achieving this - and we have many people who are on low incomes or are beneficiaries in our community."