Orford Primary School

Orford Primary School is situated in the small coastal town of Orford on the east coast of Tasmania. The school caters for approximately 95 students from surrounding areas. This year (2002) there has been a major focus on waste management, with the result that the school now has a system that they are proud of.

Paper from the office and classrooms is used on both sides. If there is still space on the paper, it is reduced for making small lists, doing spelling revision and similar things. When the paper is finished with it is shredded by the Grade 5/6 monitors and bagged for children to take home for their pet rabbit or mouse hutches. There is a constant demand for the shredded paper. The school's daily newsletter is used for artwork in the classrooms.

Plastic bins were purchased for each classroom, the staffroom and the canteen for use as recycling containers. The Grade 5/6 monitors collect and sort the recyclables once a week. These are then stored in larger bins with lids. Once full, these bins are emptied by a local contractor. The recyclables are then sent to a Waste Transfer Station. As yet, there is no kerbside collection by council.

Making rich fertile compost is one of the things that Orford Primary School has always done well. The school has a lovely playground with shady trees, attractive bushes and flower beds grown in nourishing soil. There is a bin in the main lunch eating area of the playground for children to dispose of food scraps. There are also labeled ice cream buckets for collecting food scraps in the canteen and staff room. All garden waste is put back into the garden and Orford Primary propagates many of its own plants using the compost. They don't need a worm farm because worm seem to gravitate to this excellent soil!

The Grade 5/6 students and their teacher, Fran Reid have been the leaders in this initiative. Students have been active in lobbying the local council to set up a community recycling program and keep the community informed on developments. There is a web site detailing the processes that were undertaken by the school. The address is:

http://orford.tased.edu.au/rubbish_1.htm

Orford Primary School is very happy with the changes that have been made this year and reducing, reusing and recycling has become a habit with everyone at the school. It is also the school's belief that even after the staff changes or the grade 5/6 class of 2002 is long gone, that Orford Primary School will continue to be an excellent example to other schools around the world in the area of waste management.