Eco Committee
Welcome to the Lawley Academy eco-committee website page, our mission is to create a more environmentally friendly, sustainable school which makes every effort to reduce our carbon footprint and share ideas about how to protect our planet.
Why do we have an Eco Committee?
At Lawley Academy, we have an eco committee to make sure we are spreading the word about the importance of being eco-friendly and environmentally aware. To make sure we are acting sustainably, we monitor our usage of resources and the waste we are producing throughout all areas of school. We work hard to create new, fun ways of recycling and keeping our school environment clean and tidy. We wear our badges with pride and recruit new members regularly to make sure our work is shared through all classes.
Who can be a member of the Eco Committee?
Anyone in Key Stage 2 can be a member of the eco committee! We are also going to begin recruiting year 2 children in the summer term ready for when they join KS2. If someone would like to be a member of the eco-committee the application forms can be found attached to our display board in the main office corridor.
Autumn Term Project: 'BIG TIDY UP'
Our first focus as a committee for a new school year was to get our school environment looking how we wanted it to look! We began this project by walking through our school and playground and discussing things we liked and things we wanted to change.
We agreed we loved the nature areas up by forest school and infront of each classroom window as well as the wooden planters surrounding the side gate entrance to the playground and EYFS gates. We did however notice a high level of litter in and around our school grounds which we wanted to address quickly.
After making contact with the local community development and partnerships officer at BVT in Lawley Village, we were able to supply our school community with a whole set of litter pickers, bag holders and high-vis vests for litter picks to take place!
We carried out our first litter pick with the help of our year 3 class around school grounds and collected 6 bin bags of litter! Litters picks will now happen on a regular basis with the eco-committee and Mr Phill, our school caretaker.
Autumn Term Project: 'ONE PER WASH'
Despite efforts last year, our eco committee were unable to source recyclable paper towels and therefore channeled our efforts towards reducing the amount used. In autumn term, we began a whole school waste monitoring programme which began with us looking at the amount of paper towels being thrown away throughout school. We found far too many paper towels were being used and during our school environment walk, bins were overflowing with hardly used or completely dry paper towels! To achieve a reduction in waste, we created a 'one per wash' rule which was shared through posters, an email to all classes from the eco committee and a publication in our school's newsletter!
Spring Term Project: 'COMPOSTING'
Continuing with the focus on reducing our school's waste to become more sustainable, we next looked at the school hall's lunch time waste. We spoke with Miss Rach who agreed that the waste bins at lunch time are incredibly full and something must be done. After having some time to research ideas, we decided not only did we want to encourage everyone to waste less food, but we wanted to use the wasted food in a productive and environmentally friendly way.
We have started this project by writing letters to our caretaker Mr Phill, our school's kitchen staff and our head teacher, Miss Freestone.
Letters:
This project is ongoing and updates will be posted here!
Spring Term Project: 'RECYCLE FOR FUNDS'
Exciting news! We have just been approved to be a part of the Terracycle 'Green School Project' which allows us to collect suitable waste materials and send it off to be recycled safely and properly in order to be reused, reducing our waste amounts and our carbon footprint at the same time! We are currently in the process of setting up the collection bins and adverts ready to share this exciting opportunity with the entire school in an assembly before starting the project.
Summer Term Project: 'REUSE AND REPURPOSE'
After putting a request out to our fantastic school community, we have a huge stock pile of plastic lids of many colours! Our plan is to reuse these lids for an entirely new purpose, saving them from going into land fill and also to enhance our learning environment. We have recently completed our first mosaic using green lids! Our work is now on display in the school's top corridor. We are currently planning further projects with our lids.
Summer Term Project: 'RECYCLE IT RALPH'
Since being approved for Terracycle's 'Green School Project', we have been planning a way to make recycling more exciting for the younger children in our school and remind them not to throw their wrappers, which we can send away, in the bin but to add it into our collection box instead.
During our meetings we discussed making posters, visiting classes and having a member of the eco committee in the lunch hall to monitor recycling. However, the most popular idea was to create a bin cover which would make the idea of recycling fun! Therefore, we designed and made a robot bin cover which we have named Ralph, using the slogan 'Recycle it Ralph' to remember his purpose! We have designed posters for around school and to be included within the newsletter and will be introducing Ralph to the lunch hall in the coming weeks.
2023 Project: 'ECO SCHOOLS GREEN FLAG'
Throughout the 2023/2024 academic year we are going to be working towards achieving our Eco School Green Flag Award. We have begun work early on this in preparation for our seven step process to success and hope to achieve our flag within the next 18 months!
This project is ongoing and updates will be posted here!