Reduce
Managing waste is a challenge for us in all aspects of life. In Northern Ireland each household contributes around one tonne of waste per year, and this amount is increasing. But this does not include the large amounts of waste generated by schools, businesses and other organisations.
Landfill is the most common way of dealing with waste at the moment. But this is no longer a sustainable option. New legislation from Europe means we need to rethink waste and find better ways of dealing with it. Schools and colleges have a very important role to play in shaping the attitudes and behaviours of our young people and can also set a good example for other organisations to follow.
Using what is called the Waste Hierarchy together we can minimise the amount of waste we produce and instead manage our resources much better. The hierarchy uses the simple concept of reduce, reuse, recycle and recover.
What does Reduce mean?
The Waste Hierarchy suggests that the starting point for dealing with waste is to Reduce it.
Reducing waste simply means not producing as much of it in the first place. There are many simple ways that we can do so every day in our schools and colleges.
Northern Ireland is the only country in the UK to have Education for Sustainable Development embedded in the curriculum. And as a result of the Eco-Schools programme in Northern Ireland schools, there has been a 5% increase rate in recycling rates in the home.
There are excellent examples of good practice out there at the moment. But as a society we need to constantly look at new ways to reduce waste.
How can we reduce waste?
There are lots of ways that you can reduce the amount of waste you produce in school/college.
Here are some examples:
- reduce the amount of paper waste you produce by writing/photocopying on both sides
- reduce battery waste by using solar powered calculators
- reduce packaging by using a lunchbox, avoiding over-packaged food at lunchtime
- reduce waste by composting.
