REUSE is the second of the 3Rs, after REDUCE and before RECYCLE. Before putting an object in a recycling container, teachers and pupils should get the habit of thinking “Can it be reused first?”
If your school has had some good reuse projects we would love to hear about them!
Email the waste education team for guidance or subscribe to the Devon Schools Sustainability Bulletin, with information on free resources, funding and training.
Take a look at our resources available to help your school reuse stuff for longer.
In most schools, the majority of the paper in classroom and office recycling containers has been used on only one side. The pie chart on the right shows typical results from an audit of recycling containers in a primary school. While it may not be realistic to expect 100% of the paper to be used on both sides, increasing the proportion that is ‘fully used’ will result in financial savings as the school needs to purchase less paper.
To ensure as much paper as possible is reused:
Set up ‘scrap’ or ‘rough’ paper drawers in classrooms and offices, making sure they are clearly labelled and easily accessible. Establish the expectation that adults and pupils will ask “Does it need to be new?” when they are about to use a piece of paper. Often the answer is “no”- a piece of reused paper is perfectly acceptable.
Ensure every photocopier and printer has a clearly labelled tray next to it to store paper suitable for reuse. If busy staff accidentally copy too many worksheets, or pupils click on ‘print’ too soon, these sheets can be stored flat in the tray ready to use again.
Fill one tray of your photocopier / printer with reused paper, or use a designated printer. If the reused paper is put in completely flat, it will work as well as brand new paper and will not jam the printer. Paper collected from printing / photocopying mistakes, as described above, is ideal for this use.
Print pupils’ worksheets on reused paper whenever possible; this provides a powerful message about the school’s approach to reuse. Put a footer on printed sheets saying ‘printed on reused paper’ to make explicit to pupils what has been done.
Storage Containers
Make reused tubs and pots a feature of your school. They can be used for pencils, paintbrushes, visitors’ badges, fruit cores for composting, dinner money etc.
Or you could use old builders’ bags for large shrub planters in your grounds.
Don’t be shy about reusing – make a feature of it, labelling your pots to draw attention to your environmentally friendly practices.
Food and drink containers
Expect pupils to use a drink bottle which can be refilled time and time again, add this to the uniform or equipment list for parents. You could even get bottles printed with your school logo and sell them to parents.
Encourage pupils to bring their packed lunches and snacks to school in reusable boxes, instead of using throw-away packaging such as sandwich bags and clingfilm.
See zone.recycledevon.org/zero-waste-lunches/ for resources to help you audit lunch waste and run a pupil-led campaign focusing on reusable containers. This work creates real life examples that can be used in maths and literacy, and is a great project for an Eco Committee.
Think about how creative you could be in developing reuse projects for your school. When introducing these activities, make sure you are explicit to pupils that, by reusing objects that some would regard as ‘rubbish’, they are helping the environment while making something beautiful and/or useful.
Art and design activities using reused materials can inspire pupils of all ages, whether making musical instruments with ’rubbish’ with KS1 children, or running a recycled fashion show with secondary school students.
You may have a local Scrapstore where the school can source free or cheap ‘waste’ materials (www.scrapstoresuk.org). Or put out a plea to parents and the local community, explaining that your school encourages both creativity and caring for the environment.
School gardens can be transformed with reused materials. Planters can be made from reused tyres or builders’ bags; raised beds and bug hotels from reused wood or pallets; and greenhouses from reused plastic bottles.
Have you ever found your school filling a skip with used furniture or equipment that could be reused? Try putting the items out for parents and the local community, saving the skip hire cost and don’t let the equipment go to waste!
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