Published: Monday 11th September 2017 | 11.06am
Representatives from Cannock Chase Council and Biffa recently visited West Hill Primary School in Hednesford to donate brown bins to help them dispose of the waste from their school garden.
The donation followed a number of letters received from school pupils, who requested the brown bins to help them to dispose of waste from their garden and outdoor area correctly.
Councillor John Preece, Portfolio Leader for the Environment said “I am so pleased that we were able to support West Hill Primary School and provide them with brown bins. Not only will this help them with their gardening club but will also teach the children the value of recycling and its importance in protecting the environment.”
“Recycling performance across England is dipping and as a Council we would like to increase the amount of garden waste we receive throughout the year. This is just one way of encouraging younger people to become more interested in recycling. All of the garden waste from the Cannock Chase District is composted at a local facility and eventually reused. We would like other schools across the District to follow this excellent example.”
Miss Sally Jones, School Council Co-ordinator said “We want to teach the children the importance of reusing waste and not disposing of it in an incorrect manner. The importance of educating children on good ecological habits is crucial at this early stage.”
The Community Garden Team from Hednesford Park are also working with the school to deliver the Year 5/6 Autumn Term project ‘Allotments’.
During the project, children will learn about planting/growing their own food, visiting and knowing about allotments/gardening and building an awareness of where food comes from. The team will be assisting with weeding and preparing the school allotments and any of the garden waste can go into the schools new brown bins and be composted nearby.
Children will also be collecting pop bottles to recycle and reuse to make cold frames. This is a community initiative to re-use plastic pop bottles to construct cold frames for community gardening activities in Hednesford Park.
Cara Rakmee, Garden Promotion Officer said “These community liaison enrichment activities will benefit the whole community by helping with ongoing projects in the park involving different community groups and volunteers as well as the school gardens.We will also be supporting the school to re-use coppiced wood from their gardens to make into craft items to sell at the Christmas Fayre.We are looking forward to getting stuck in, in the new term.It’s all about sustainability and enterprise.”
Photo: L-R: Shaun Cadman – Biffa Business Manager, Sally Jones – PSHE/School Council Co-ordinator, Councillor John Preece – Environment Portfolio Leader, Joss Pressland – Waste & Engineering Services Manager with children from West Hill Primary School - school councillors