Recycling at Margaret river Senior High School
The recycling program here at school has adopted many facets during the seven years since it's inception in 1999. We started with a bang and took on many, (probably too many) programs. These programs were :
- Worm Farms- We manufactured worm farms from recycled pallets and bred worms, sold vermi liquid and worm castings through an order form in our administration office.
- Composting- In our Mechanical workshop classes we developed a design and built a large compost drum on a rotating stand. In the drum we composted shredded waste paper, chicken manure and lawn clippings. This made an excellent compost which sold well to the public and school community.
- We had a glut of waste paper collected and shredded from around the school so the viticulture class developed a paper mache' mulch to be used under the vines as a water retention aid and mulch. The students were also trialling addition of organic and non-organic pesticides.
- Notepads. This is the main focus of our recycling within the school at present. Around the school in every class room is a dual box set up to collect paper used on side only and the other to collect any other recyclable paper product. The boxes are collected by various groups or sent in by individual teachers to a central location, (the design and technology foyer) where it is sorted. The recyclable paper is boxed up and sent to the facility via our kerbside collection system. And the paper clean on one side is made into notepads and sold through a vending box in the town shopping centre, given to staff and students within the school and made up into orders for various businesses around town. (Fish &Chip shop Taxi service)
The pad making is the only activity to run all through this time period and is still very successful on a day to day basis due its sustainability, the supply of paper and demand for pads and the whole school involvement in the program. The other programs still have the infrastructure and capital equipment in place just waiting for a teacher with the right combination of classes energy and motivation to continue.
Other Activities Within the School
The students at this school have been involved in national Tree Day and Clean Up Australia Day for the last five years. The educational benefits of this activity are in line with the schools mission statement of Respect. In this case respect for the environment and how to reduce the impact of waste on our environment by making a real difference at a local level. National Tree Day really gives the students a strong feeling of making a difference when they see the trees planted by former students or come back in years to come and identify the trees that they planted in year 8.
Ian Thwaites
Environment Co-ordinator MRSHS