“it’s estimated that each school pupil generates between 20 and 45kg of waste every academic year. This means a minimum of 180 million kg of waste could be created by school pupils across the UK annually.”
Creating a zero-waste classroom is a fantastic way to teach sustainability while reducing the environmental impact of daily activities. It involves careful planning, reducing consumption, reusing materials, and finding alternatives to wasteful practices.
According to research by ‘Business Waste’, it’s estimated that each school pupil generates between 20 and 45kg of waste every academic year. This means a minimum of 180 million kg of waste could be created by school pupils across the UK annually.
If you’re serious about making a change then here are some practical steps you can take to achieve a zero-waste classroom:
Reduce Paper Usage
Digital Assignments & Communication: Use digital platforms for homework, announcements, and assignments to reduce paper waste. Platforms like Google Classroom or Microsoft Teams allow students to submit work online.
Double-Sided Printing: If printing is necessary, encourage double-sided printing to halve paper usage.
Reuse Paper: Set up a scrap paper bin for reusing paper that’s only been used on one side and encourage students to use it for drafts or notes.
Use Reusable Materials
Classroom Supplies: Opt for reusable whiteboards and chalkboards instead of paper flip charts. For crafts, use fabric or wood that can be reused instead of single-use items.
Stationery: Choose refillable pens, mechanical pencils, and rechargeable markers. Have a station for sharing or exchanging unused supplies.
Durable Binders and Folders: Replace single-use notebooks with durable binders where students can add and remove paper as needed.
Eliminate Plastic & Single-Use Items
Reusable Containers: Encourage students to bring reusable lunchboxes, water bottles, and snack containers.
Classroom Kitchen Supplies: If your classroom includes a kitchen or snack time, use reusable cups, plates, and cutlery instead of disposable options
Host Zero-Waste Challenges
Waste-Free Challenges: Organise zero-waste challenges where students try to generate no waste for a day or week. This can include packing zero-waste lunches, using only reusable supplies, or finding creative ways to repurpose materials.
Competitions: Run friendly competitions between groups or other classes in your year group to see who can reduce their waste the most, recycle the most materials, or come up with the best eco-friendly ideas.
Make It Fun & Engaging
Eco-Friendly Crafts & Projects: Incorporate sustainability into art or project time. For example, students can make posters about recycling, create crafts from reused materials, or build something useful for the classroom out of waste (like an eco-brick chair or a pencil holder from upcycled items).
Classroom Garden: If space allows, start a classroom garden where students can plant, care for, and compost their food waste. This provides a hands-on way to learn about composting and food cycles while fostering a sense of responsibility.
Track and Celebrate Progress
Visual Tracking: Create a waste-reduction chart where the class can visibly track how much waste they’re saving over time. Use graphs, stickers, or reward systems to keep students motivated.
Reward Systems: Celebrate milestones or achievements with simple rewards like a zero-waste party, digital certificates, or eco-friendly prizes (e.g., a reusable water bottle or a seed packet for planting).
Classroom “Waste Audit”: Conduct a “waste audit” where students assess what waste is being generated, how much is recyclable or compostable, and brainstorm ways to reduce it further. This can be a regular activity to show progress and tweak practices.
Engage in Problem-Solving Activities
Sustainability Brainstorm Sessions: Hold classroom discussions or brainstorming sessions where students can come up with creative solutions to reduce waste. For example, they might think of ways to use less paper, bring reusable containers for snacks, or implement a swap system for supplies.
Real-Life Applications: Have students apply zero-waste principles to school events, like field trips or class parties, by organising waste-free activities, meals, or decorations.
Incorporate Sustainability into Projects & Assignments
Eco-Themed Assignments: Encourage students to research and present on topics related to waste reduction, recycling, or sustainable living as part of science or social studies projects.
Zero-Waste Class Projects: Plan a project where students create something that benefits the whole school, like a recycling awareness campaign, making posters about sustainability, or creating instructional videos about waste reduction.
Peer Teaching & Collaboration
Student-Led Workshops: Have older students or the “Green Team” lead workshops for younger students, explaining how they can reduce waste or help with recycling. Peer learning can be an effective way to spread the zero-waste message across the school.
Collaborative Learning: Group students together to work on sustainability projects, such as designing a zero-waste plan for the school, building a composting station, or hosting an eco-friendly event.
Encourage Family and Community Involvement
Take Home Projects: Create take-home assignments that get families involved, like tracking waste reduction at home or packing zero-waste lunches. Students can present their findings or efforts in class.
Community Events: Organise school-wide or community events like a waste-reduction fair, where students can showcase their projects, teach others about recycling, or run a swap station where people can exchange items instead of throwing them away.
