17th October 19
We’ve all heard the saying “reduce, reuse, recycle” and last week girls in Year 4 got to put those three ideas into practice in a very special recycling workshop. The purpose of the workshop was to get the girls thinking about waste, about how it can be reduced, what can be recycled and what happens to the rest of it.
We were very lucky to be able to welcome Jez Elkin, Education Manager from Greatmoor – an ‘energy from waste’ facility based in Aylesbury. Greatmoor takes all of the non-recyclable waste from our area, where it is burnt to produce energy. Greatmoor is operated by FCC Environment, in partnership with Buckinghamshire County Council and has the capacity to treat up to 300,000 tonnes of waste a year (approximately 900 tonnes a day), waste which would otherwise have gone to landfill. As a result, it generates a minimum of 22 megawatts of electricity to the national grid – meeting the energy needs of around 36,000 homes.
Jez also spoke to the girls about reducing the amount of waste we produce and how much more manufacturing companies can do to reduce the amount of packing with their products. In small groups, the girls worked together to look at different types of packaging, discussed what was wrong with it and then re-designed in an attempt to use less plastic. This really got the girls imaginations going and saw them coming up with innovative solutions.
There was also time for a creative activity where the girls ‘reused’ discarded materials including plastic, fabric, bags, cardboard, balloons, bubble wrap, tissue paper and corks to design their own piece of high fashion. They worked in groups, showing collaboration and team work and were excellent at helping each other, showing empathy and respect. A great Maltman’s Mindsets activity! They all enjoyed showing their creation to the whole year group.
Such a fun, educational workshop.
