LEADERSHIP BY EXAMPLE
S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y
Dispose of poor waste management practices
Nearing the end of our series which focuses on how to address each area of the Eco Schools Award, HELEN BURGE, deputy COO at The Priory Learning Trust, emphasises why taking the time to sort through your waste is beneficial for both your school and the world around you
H
ow do you know you’re approaching the half-term holidays? By spotting the skip in the staff car park! Of course, there are loads of other indicators that a half-term is nearing, but a big one has to be the start of the clearing out of cupboards of resources and paperwork. Long forgotten items, some needing repair, that had been stored safely at the back of the cupboard are brought out into daylight and judgements made on their future fate. The skip fills up fast – there’s a bit of a rush to ensure their waste gets in the skip before it gets too full. Stuff is also
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October 2022
hidden, so no-one can see them putting it in the skip – you know, when people realise that they’ve found something that should have gone home with a child a couple of years ago, or when they’ve found something they’ve assured their colleague wasn’t in their cupboard! They’ve been thrown, out of sight, out of mind. However, as Annie Leonard, executive director of Greenpeace USA says, “There is no such thing as ‘away’. When you throw something away, it must go somewhere.” You may spot plastic polly-pockets and folders, still full of old learning schemes and phonics worksheets tipped