It’s A Fact!

Why Waste Minimisation is an Eco-topic? 

Everyday we throw things into the bin and forget about them. But the bin is not the end of our rubbish. The wheeled bins at home and school are collected by refuse collection lorries for disposal. The most common way of dealing with rubbish in Scotland is to put it in an area called a ‘Landfill Site’. The Landfill site is usually a large hole in the ground such as an old quarry. For many years the waste collected from schools and homes in Dumfries and Galloway has gone to a Landfill site but thankfully this is changing. For more details on these changes visit the council’s waste mini web –  www.dumgal.gov.uk/waste

 Landfill sites are problematic. Rubbish takes a long time to break down and can cause land, air and water pollution. This means the council have to deal with growing piles of rubbish, the prevention of pollution and the expense of this work. It also means that manufacturers use more of the Earth’s resources to make new products. The Earth’s resources are running out.

Waste minimisation is a topic that will only get more important as you grow up so it is important to learn about it now. We can all change our behaviour and help our local and global environment.

The World of Waste 

Waste cannot be eliminated but we can reduce the amount of waste we create and make better use of the waste. Some countries are better than others at dealing with their waste. There are lots of really good ideas out there. In Scotland the waste master plan involves reducing, reusing, and recycling waste products. Have a look at www.wascot.org.uk to learn more about Scotland ’s aims. Waste minimisation can save energy and natural resources and helps to reduce pollution.

The Problem of Landfill 

Landfill sites are a problem across the world. Think of all the things that people throw into the bin; food scraps, plastic bottles, and worse…old nappies! All of the things that we do not want in our homes and schools go into the bin and into a landfill site. In some places and in Scotlands past, many households burned their rubbish. The fumes caused by burning add to air pollution though, so landfills are popular in Scotland . As we learned in the Litter Eco–topic, rubbish takes a long time to break down. Landfill sites must be carefully monitored to prevent pollution of the surrounding land, of water and air.

When organic waste (waste that was once alive like plants and food scraps) breaks down, with no oxygen,  a gas called Methane is created. The methane produced from rotting organic waste adds to the problem of global warming. Scotland ’s landfill sites produce about 1 million tonnes of methane every year. The good news is that this production of methane can be avoided. One of the best ways to avoid this is to start composting at school and home. Find out about composting below.Also when it rains on the landfill site this water   travels down through the waste picking up dirt and becomes polluted, this dirty water is called Leachate.  The leachate is carefully monitored at the landfill site to make sure that it does not cause pollution to nearby water and that it is all collected to be cleaned.   Leachate is gathered into large pools and taken to the sewage treatment plant for cleaning before the water is released. This cleaning is very expensive.

The whole country has a master plan to reduce the waste we throw away. This master plan is known as ‘The National Strategy’ and Scotland has it’s very own one.

This graph shows what makes up our waste in Scotland in 2002 and 2006, and shows the targets of change for 2010, 2013 and 2020. It might look complicated but it is showing us that in 2002 (down at the bottom) much of our waste was dumped into landfill sites (the big pale green bar) and very little was recycled (the green and white stripy bit). If we look at the top bar, where we are aiming to be at 2020, the amount of waste that is landfilled is smaller and much more is recycled, composted and used for energy, hurrah!

 

(From: http://www.sepa.org.uk/nws/guidance/nwp.htm)

What a load of Rubbish 

Lets have a look at what goes into our bins:

(From: http://www.recycling-guide.org.uk/rrr.html)

Paper  

Recycling paper is a brilliant way to reduce the waste that goes to landfill from your school.  But it would be even better if we could reduce the amount of paper we use through doing things like sharing work sheets and making less photocopies.

Paper is the main waste created by schools, making up at least one quarter of all its rubbish. If you don’t already recycle paper, it’s time to start. Every classroom could have a green paper recycling bag or a specially labelled box for waste paper. The council will give your school a big blue paper bin. You have to discuss and agree who will take the waste paper from the classroom to the big wheeled bin and how often this has to be done.

The paper is then taken away for recycling regularly, usually every week. You can even try recycling paper yourself. Our Eco Schools officer has papermaking kits and can come out to your school to teach you. Why not ask your teacher to invite her out?  

To see how paper is recycled in our region follow the link below to Dumfries and Galloway Council miniweb:

http://www.dumgal.gov.uk/dumgal/MiniWeb.aspx?id=329&menuid=4841&openid=4839 

Food Waste: Composting and Worms

Schools produce a lot of food waste. This can be composted to minimise the waste thrown out of our schools and to create healthy compost for plants.

Compost is dark, crumbly, soil-like plant food. Compost is nature’s way of recycling food and garden waste and it’s so clever. Food and garden waste is eaten and broken down by good bacteria, fungus, insects and worms with air. After some time, the waste is transformed into compost and can be put in the garden or into flowerpots to help plants grow.

It’s a good idea to think of your compost bin as a pet. Like any pet, your compost bin must be looked after. You must feed your compost bin the right food. The bin needs both ‘brown’ and ‘green’ food. Brown food is food that is drier and bulky and this material makes air spaces in the compost such as dead plants and shredded cardboard. Green material is slimier and gives moisture to the compost. Things like fruit and vegetable waste are considered to be green waste. A good balance of these materials should keep the compost bin healthy. If the compost becomes too slimy you may have to add more dry materials such as cardboard and garden waste, this is important, especially if you have large amounts of grass cuttings. If the compost becomes too dry, water may be added to help restore the balance. Roughly, the compost should be half browns and half greens.

Compost bins are black to help them absorb the heat. They like heat so you should try to find a sunny corner for them. If the weather is very warm, they may need a bucket of water to keep them moist.

Have a look at the steps involved in using a wormery by looking at pictures from Lochmaben Nursery at:  

          http://www.dumgal.gov.uk/dumgal/MiniWeb.aspx?id=329&menuid=5069&openid=4852   

To find out more about the Dumfries and Galloway Home Composting Programme 2007, please visit:

www.dumgal.gov.uk/homecomposting 

What can you do? 

Schools can do much to prevent large amounts of waste from being thrown away. Here are some ideas:

·        A Waste Audit: The Eco Coordinator can come and help you conduct a waste audit. This involves looking through the school bins to learn about the waste the school is producing and to get some ideas of how to reduce, reuse or recycle some of the rubbish.