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WHE N: Whenever your site can commit to the challenge for

at least 6 weeks and beyond…….

WH Y: Information in the following pages outlines the areas where

preschool and school sites can most easily reduce the volume of materials

being sent to landfill. Saving material from landfill helps the environment

and also saves money for families and sites!

HOW: Suggestions for reducing material to landfill can be found in;

this support material

the WOW website: www.wow.sa.gov.au

WHAT YOU WILL FIND / NEED :

Record sheets and tally sheets http://www.wow.sa.gov.au/less-to-landfill-challenge.html

WOW mini bins (we will send the number that your site requires)

Optional Resource: WOW DIY Audit Kit http://www.wow.sa.gov.au/diy-audit-kit.html

TIP: Use careful language as an important tool in helping your site with this challenge!

Referring to items as ‘materials’ or ‘resources’ rather than ‘rubbish’ or ‘garbage’ (which very

few items are), has proven to be very effective in helping students, staff and families think

more carefully about where to place items (eg recycling, reuse, compost, landfill).

LESS to LANDFILL Challenge

Early Years Support materials

Co nta c t K E S AB o n: Ph: 8 2 3 4 7 2 5 5

Ema i l : w e n d y@ k e s a b . a s n . a u I f you r e q u i r e fu r t h e r i n fo r m a t i o n

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Wipe Out Waste Bin Materials Audits have been conducted at 265 sites around SA since 2005, including 29 preschool

and 12 child care sites. Audits involve sorting material from landfill bins into 15 categories to assess how well existing

separation systems are working and to identify opportunities to separate and collect valuable resources.

The results above (4 main categories) suggest that with effective recycling, composting and reuse systems in place,

the opportunities for resource recovery and savings are significant (up to 75% diversion from landfill - by volume).

The volume results below (all 15 categories) show that 18% of all material going to landfill from sites is food and drink

packaging, so much of the material provided with the Less to Landfill Challenge focuses on Waste Less (or Nude Food)

recess and lunch options. Changing daily packaging behaviour has positive impacts on the family budget and on the

environment, as well as the cost savings to sites for having less material collected for landfill. Other areas to focus on

are; recycling - especially paper/cardboard collection, and collection of material for composting (including food

scraps, hand towel and tissues). If you don’t currently have collection systems for these at your site, the Challenge is

an opportunity for participating classes to demonstrate how many resources could be collected and used or recycled

at your site.

While we appreciate that collection services do not exist everywhere, please read the one page suggestion sheets on

the following pages for reducing Landfill items, reusing Reusables, recycling Recyclables, composting Compostables

at your site or in collaboration with local recyclers. Suggestions demonstrate how easy it is to change daily behaviour,

the positive impact of this behaviour change on the family budget and on the environment, as well as the cost savings

to sites for having less material collected for landfill.

By the categories on the chart below, the challenge can be broken down into:

Reduce - food and drink packaging, ziplock bags, small tubs, ‘other’ material

Reuse - single sided paper for scrap paper, and reusable items

Recycle - paper and cardboard, kerbside recyclables,

Compost - food scraps, garden material, compostable paper and uneaten food (last two can also be reduced)

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RE DUCE landfill items

This includes:

Food and Drink Packaging: (18% of total volume) chip, biscuit, cheese snack wrappers, plastic

wrap, alfoil. So called ‘convenience’ food in small packages is usually the most expensive way for

families to purchase food items. Another hidden cost in ‘convenience’ foods is that when they are

sent to preschool, the management and collection costs of the packaging is borne by the site.

With increasing landfill levies, this economic cost will continue to increase.

Ziplock bags: (1% of total volume) have their own category as so many of these supposedly

‘reusable’ items are binned. The state average (to date) is one per person/day - enough to line the

road from Adelaide to Ceduna and back! If one student uses 1 ziplock bag/day for their school

career, that totals 2 600 bags or up to $260 (equivalent to purchasing a $20 lunchbox every year ).

Small tubs and squeezies: (4% of total volume) from yoghurt, fruit, custard and jellies may be

recycled at home and preschool, but these become a landfill item at school s they retain too much

residual food for safe recycling to occur. Squeezie/ sucker containers can NOT be recycled.

Other: (8% of total volume) material that can only go to landfill eg; broken pens, pencils, crockery,

and other non - recyclable items. If this is the only material going to landfill, you may only need a

couple of wheelie bins collected each term! This may be the only material that will go in your mini

Less to Landfill Challenge bin each day.

What can we do about this?

Food and Drink Packaging, Zip Lock Bags and Small Tubs:

are all items that we can work to reduce. The audit results chart

on the previous page show that 18% of all material being sent to

landfill from preschool sites is made up of food and drink

packaging (this grows to 25% for primary schools). For this

reason, much of the material provided with the Less to Landfill

Challenge focuses on Waste Less (or Nude Food) recess and lunch

options.

Resusable waste less or Nude Food lunch boxes/wrappers are

effective ways to reduce packaging, see sample letter to parents

on the website). Some sites provide a snack container in their

welcome pack. If food and drink packaging can be replaced with

durable, reusable containers that may last students from

pre-school through to high school, the long-term cost savings

and environmental benefits will be enormous. Less packaging

often encourages healthier food choices, so links to healthy

eating and improved learning outcomes may also occur.

A number of sites have removed bins from their sites. Indoor

bins are only emptied when needed and packaging is taken

home by students and staff. Working with partnership sites

to encourage feeder schools to continue your good work will

create waste disposal $$ savings for schools as well as ground staff

and cleaning staff time which can be spent on more productive activities.

http://www.4myearth.com.au/store/

These websites have some great ideas and fundraising options for sites.

http://www.nudefoodmovers.com.au/

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REC YCL E recyclable items

This includes:

Paper and cardboard: often up to 60% (by volume) of the material coming out of education sites. (20% of total volume of preschool audit materials)

Kerbside / Depot recyclables: (6% of total volume) for areas with kerbside collections or local recycling depots that accept a range of items. This category includes; clean rigid plastic containers, metal cans, glass bottles and jars, and liquid paperboard cartons (eg milk cartons). Some areas may also be able to accept other items such as clean soft plastic, so check with your local provider to find out exactly what they can accept in your collection system.

Clean soft plastics: (1% of total volume) Soft plastics (no food residue) can now be collected and taken to selected supermarkets for recycling. Some collection contractors also offer this as a separate service. Consider a bag for collection on the back of a door or in the kitchen area.

E-materials and Lights: This includes computers and computer accessories (mouse, keyboard), phones, printers, fax machines and anything with a cord or battery. These items are now banned from landfill (penalties apply) and need safe disposal through an organised contractor or drop off location.

What can we do with these items?

This will depend on services in your area, however a range of collection options are possible, and clear, colourful pictorial signage will help ensure systems are used correctly.

Paper/card: provide a box, tub or suitable container in all classes and admin areas. To make best use of your resources, consider using a recycling box (for paper used on both sides) and a reuse box (for paper used on one side only that is still good for drafts, drawing etc.. Paper is a big budget item , so it’s essential to make maximum use of it!

Kerbside/Depot recyclables: Some sites may already have a kerbside collection if they are offered to preschools - contact your council. If you have no kerbside collection but excellent recycling depots, discuss the best way of managing recycling streams. It may be that items are collected and taken to the local depot by staff, or a parent roster. The items collected in a kerbside or depot system are most likely to come from the kitchen where there is access to water to ensure they are clean.

On site systems: See pictures on the next pages of a range of successful collection systems.

Remember that the simplest containers are likely to be just as successful as expensive

separation systems. If children have been involved in developing the containers and their

signage, they will know what to place in each container.

Materials can be separated at snack times and lunch time. The most effective systems are those where all bin/

container choices can be seen at once: this makes the decision about where to place an item easier for the person

with an item in their hand. Bins/containers can be located in close proximity to each other, and clearly signed so

that children, staff, parents and relief staff will be able to use them easily.

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Collecting packaging and making a collage

is a great activity for students and families to

visually represent

regularly landfilled items.

SEPARATION SYSTEMS

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COMPOST compostable items

This includes:

Food scraps: (9% of total volume) crusts, fruit , veg and food scraps.

Compostable paper: (34% of total volume– the largest category) handtowel/ paper towel, tissues and paper lunchbags , baking paper.

Garden materials: (1% of the total volume) flowers, leaves, grass cuttings, small twigs and branches .

Uneaten food: While it is only 1% of volume in preschool - it rises to 6% in primary schools! Helping parents understand that when students move on to school there is much less eating time and that outdoor play is important to students at lunch and recess times so they may only need to pack the same lunchbox as preschool unless their child requests more food.

What can we do with these items?

This will depend on the systems that exist at your site. Many sites are currently developing food gardens with

composting systems (bins, bays, bokashi buckets or worm farms). Some sites have small food collection bins that

are taken home by students or staff with chickens, animals or compost systems, which is an effective way of using

these valuable resources. Many preschool sites can access council kerbside green organics collections.

Food scraps: The simplest collection system is often a reused caterers bucket with a lid, with clear colourful

signage about what can go in it. This may vary depending on the type of compost system you use, so make the

signage and regular reminders clear. These may be decanted daily (or regularly) into a compost bin or worm farm.

If you are a large site with too much organic material to manage on site, consider a commercial collection through

your current contractors or food ‘waste’ specialists. Collection costs may be considerably less than landfill

collections, and material is sent to a commercial composter to become a valuable resource for horticulture and

garden use.

Compostable paper: Compostable paper may be collected in the same containers as food scraps, or if a separate

container is placed in toilets or spaces where there is likely to be hand towels or tissues. Large quantities of paper

towel are best placed into council or commercial collections. Hand dryers or a wash and shake system at taps can

help reduce paper towel use.

Garden Materials: Can be collected in a green organics bin or leaves and sweepings are a good mix for any

composting system.

Bench top caddy and compostable bags for the collection of food scraps.

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Glossary:

R E D U C E Food and Drink Packaging: encourage students to bring foods in reusable containers and consider ‘Nude Food’ days

for the site.

Ziplock Bags: encourage the reuse of ziplock bags when brought to preschool, and send letters to parents to encourage them to also purchase reusable containers to save $$ in the long term. Compostable ziplock bags are also available through biobag australia, fundraising options available for schools and preschools

http://store.biobagworld.com.au/index.php?route=product/product&path=62&product_id=63

Small tubs/ squeezies: buying items in bulk rather than multipack serves is not only cheaper, but better for the environment as there is less packaging involved. Small quantities of food can then be placed in reusable containers to be brought to preschool and later school. Consider ‘yoghurt’ days or levys (where families pay $10 or $20/term for the site to provide yoghurt. This also reduces wastage, waste disposal costs and odour issues in warmer months) as a fundraiser or a yoghurt fee– so that yoghurt can be dished into reusable cups or bowls on site. Students can learn independent skills like dishing and washing as part of this activity.

Other: to avoid the amount of materials sent to landfill, try to reduce, reuse, and recycle as many items as possible.

R E U S E Reusable Items: set up communal areas where unwanted items can then be reused by others in the preschool

community before going in the bin. This will also save $$.

Single-sided paper: set up a scrap paper system so that students are able to put or take paper that is no longer needed but still able to be used on one side. Encourage a culture of reusing items as much as possible.

R E C Y C L E Paper and cardboard: collection systems will prevent valuable resources going to landfill and enhance the reuse of

single sided paper. Paper/card bins next to landfill bins and clear signage will help students understand and make the most of this system.

Kerbside/Depot recyclables: a well signed, coloured tub is often best for this collection, placed next to landfill bins in kitchen or eating areas for these clean and rinsed materials.

Clean Soft Plastics: encourage a collection in the kitchen and take to local supermarkets or sites with collection points.

E-materials and Lights: require special disposal through an organised contractor or designated drop off location. All E-materials are now banned to landfill in SA and penalties apply for disposal to landfill. Check with your local council or Zero Waste SA website for information http://www.zerowaste.sa.gov.au/at-home

C O M P O S T Food scraps: collect for on site composting, or emptying regularly into a green organics bin for commercial or council

collection.

Compostable paper: small amounts can also be placed in food scraps bin to make an excellent compost mixture. Collection large quantities in areas with handtowels is great way to add to council or commercial organics bins.

Garden materials: smaller items can be returned to a designated garden area, placed in compost or placed in the green organics kerbside bin for composting.

Uneaten food: can be taken home for students to eat later. Support students in talking to parents about what food they like and how much food they need, which could reduce the amount of uneaten food during the school day. Ensure parents understand that at school students are likely to have a fifth of the eating time they were used to at preschool and to only send the same amount of food (as preschool) unless their child requests more. Encourage families to ensure that students can open their food containers by themselves (snap lock bags, squeezies and peel back tubs can be difficult to open) and if they can’t manag e them, then look for alternative containers or foods.