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GENERAL INFORMATION AND IDEAS
It is vital not just to tell children to reduce, reuse and recycle,
but to explain to them why it needs to be done.
Litter
Litter is a huge problem in Northern Ireland e.g. millions of pounds
are spent by Belfast City Council clearing it up every year. By
getting children and young people to survey litter, the scale of
the problem becomes clear, and maybe a few of them will try to be
more careful and act more responsibly in future.
A litter lift is a good first step to improving an area either
in the streets, the grounds of the school, community centre or whatever
building you work out of. The volumes collected are often a good
way to show others just what a mess they are making of where they
live.
Local councils should be able to provide bags, litter lifters and
gloves and maybe give a talk or provide other help. Litter collecting
should not be carried out without suitable protection and supervision
and is not suitable for young groups due to potential hazards. When
collecting the litter, if different materials, e.g. glass and cans,
are kept separate they can then be recycled.
The lift itself and showing what has been cleaned up also makes
a good story for local papers gaining valuable publicity for your
group. Some groups have ended the lift with an event such as displaying
posters decorated with rubbish, photographs of the lift or a barbecue
or similar event to thank the participants.
Recycling
Most households in Northern Ireland now have recycling facilities provided by their local council, usually either a blue bin or a Kerbie box. The local authority provides the blue bins and most takes paper, card, plastic bottles and cans, although in some areas the blue bin is just for paper. If you are not sure what can go in your recycling bin, check with your council.
The Kerbie boxes are provided by Bryson Recycling on behalf of the local authority. Kerbies take paper, cardboard, cans, glass bottles, plastic bottles, clothes, aluminium foil and hand tools. If you have a red Kerbie, it takes all the above except paper.
To find out more about why we should recycle and what happens to all the materials, download the  Recycling Questions fact sheet.
Schools in many areas can recycle through the School's Recycling Programme run by Bryson Charitable Group Recycling. Schools in the scheme can choose what they want to recycle from the following - paper, card, plastic bottles and aluminium cans.
For more information on the service and to find out if it operates in your area, contact Fiona Perry at Bryson Charitable Group Recycling on 90848494, by e-mail fiona@brysonrecycling.co.uk or visit their website by clicking here.
You can also recycle aluminium cans yourself through the Cash For Cans scheme. You can learn more about aluminium and the Cash for Cans scheme by visiting the Alupro website for more information.
Aluminium is a valuable metal with every can worth about a penny. This doesn't sound like much, but it can really build up and cans worth over £1million are going to landfill in Northern Ireland every year!
If the staff and pupils bring in cans from home, it can amount to a surprising volume. Only aluminium cams are valuable, so test all those collected with a magnet, steel cans stick, aluminium cans don't. The steel can be recycled in a blue bin, Kerbie box or at a local recycling centre.
The children could even make plans as to what they will do with the money raised. Depending on the amount, it could be used to buy sweets, pay for a visit, buy art materials or be donated to charity.
To find out more information about the waste we produce and the materials we recycle in Northern Ireland, click here to download our Waste and Recycling fact sheet.
Composting
Food and garden waste makes up a substantial proportion of our rubbish. Many households now have a brown bin provided by the council for garden waste, although most will not take fruit and vegetable leftovers.
Commercially available wormeries are a good way of reducing food waste going to landfills. The wormery comes complete with worms and full instructions on how to keep it healthy and can usually be used indoors or out. This is especially good if it will be at risk from vandals. The two most common wormeries are from Can-o-Worms and Original Organics, although they are quite expensive. If you feel up for a challenge, you could have a go at making a wormery yourself. Click here to find out how.
Wormeries are also a good way of encouraging healthy eating as only fruit and vegetable waste can go in.
If you have the space, a larger outdoor composter can be used. These can be bought from your local authority, D.I.Y. stores or constructed from waste wood, e.g. by nailing three pallets together!
These are more suitable for garden waste, as too much food waste can attract flies and vermin.
You can also make a small tabletop wormery that allows you to see what the worms are up to from old jars or from waste wood. Click here to download the Desktop Wormery fact sheet for full instructions.
If you have received a Can-O-Worms from Bryson Education, bought one or have made your own wormery and want to download the Worm Information Pack, worksheets, posters and composting game, click here for the worm downloads.
Activities
You can download our
Recycled Crafts PDF
with information on activities involving the reuse of waste materials.
Using these materials shows the children involved that just because
something has been used once for one purpose, it has not necessarily
become useless.
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