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The NEWF has coordinated two successful Landfill Open Days during the last year, at Clarence Valley and Richmond Valley Council waste management centres with the focus on school participation. Each event included a range of educational activities and substantial local Council participation.
The aim of the Landfill Open Days was to educate the students about their local waste facility, providing an experiential learning experience.
By providing an organised day of information and educational activities the following objectives were able to be met:
Introduce and inform school children and their teachers about the value of waste minimisation with the focus on reducing, reusing, recycling and resource recovery;
Enable young people to see first hand the environmental outcome of their waste separation efforts;
Demonstrate the problems caused by contamination in recycling; and
Reinforce the importance of waste minimisation and good landfill management for the environment and future generations.
Richmond Valley Council ‘Trip to the Tip’
The ‘Trip to the Tip’ school open day was held at the Nammoona Landfill, Casino in June 2006. Students and teachers from Casino West, Rappville, Ellangowan and Manifold Public Schools (approx 95 students in total) attended the open day and took the opportunity to experience resource recovery and waste management in their local area.
The tour included:
- A welcome from Councillor Charlie Cox and the NEWF Coordinator Bernadette Thomas.
A tour of the site led by the RVC Waste Services Manager Peter Cotterill who presented the students with an overview of how the site operates.
A walking tour of the gatehouse, domestic recycling, green waste, building waste and scrap metal waste areas and a demonstration of the waste trucks and other equipment.
A bus tour to the tip face to see the compactor in action, the old cells, irrigation pipes and leachate pond.
A performance of the Green House mobile waste education unit with a focus on waste free lunches and how to divert food/organic waste from landfill.
Displays on ‘Smart Shopping’ and how a worm farm works
Students were asked to make a pledge to reduce waste and live more sustainably. Their photograph and pledge was then entered into the Green House Pledge Book.
At the end of the trip students and teachers were asked to complete an evaluation form and presented with a resource folder to take back to school and continue their exploration into waste minimisation.
Evaluation Summary
75% of the students and all of the teachers completed evaluation forms
Teachers thought that the trip effectively achieved the objectives outlined above and that overall the Green House was the most popular aspect of the tour. The teachers stated that they intended to do follow up work in the classroom including the introduction of waste free lunches, worm farming and recycling.
Student feedback overall was very positive with most stating that they enjoyed the tour. The Green House and the performers where the most popular aspects and most students said they would like to see the Green House again and learn more about waste.
Clarence Valley Council ‘Trip to the Tip’
The ‘Trip to the Tip’ school open day was held at the Grafton Landfill & Waste Transfer/Recycling Centre in October 2006. 105 year 6 students and their teachers from South Grafton Public school took the opportunity to experience resource recovery and waste management in their local area.
The tour included:
A welcome and overview by CVC Waste Education Officer Belinda Stayt.
A visit to the Grafton Waste Transfer & Recycling station where students were given a demonstration of the separation and bunding of recyclables and a tour of the green waste processing area.
A visit to the Grafton Regional Landfill where students were given a bus tour of the site under the guidance of the site manager, which included a visit to the tip face to see the compactor in action, the old cells, irrigation pipes and leachate ponds.
A performance of the Green House mobile waste education unit with a focus on waste free lunches and how to divert food/organic waste from landfill.
Displays on ‘Smart Shopping’ and how a worm farm works
Students were asked to make a pledge to reduce waste and live more sustainably. Their photograph and pledge was then entered into the Green House Pledge Book.
At the end of the trip students and teachers were asked to complete an evaluation form and presented with a resource folder to take back to school and continue their exploration into waste minimisation.
Evaluation Summary
68% of the students and 50% of the teachers completed evaluation forms
Teachers thought that the trip effectively achieved the objectives outlined above and that overall the Green House and the displays were the most popular aspect of the ‘Trip to the Tip’ for the students. Teachers also stated that they intended to use information and resources from the landfill open day to teach part of the environmental unit of the curriculum and to encourage less packaging in school lunches and an improvement in reuse and recycling at school.
Student feedback overall was very positive with most stating that they enjoyed the tour. The bus trip around the landfill site and the Green House where the most popular aspects and most students said they would like to see the Green House again and learn more about waste and how to avoid it.
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