Schools
Plastic Free Schools
Find out how schools can get involved and who is doing what
Schools fall under the Community Allies category, but we have provided a separate page to share what our schools are doing and because they have their own toolkit!
Our local schools are all getting involved, you can see the showcase below.
We have requested copies of the toolkits for schools and will provide a link to thosewhen they are received, but you can register your school on the Surfers Against Sewage website.
Showcase
See what the local schools are doing to remove single-use plastics
The Plastic Free Highcliffe team are happy to have had contact from the playgroup and we hope to be able to help and encourage them on their journey to becoming plastic free.
The Plastic Free Highcliffe team are very happy to have been invited to speak to the Head Teacher at the school and we will are looking forward to finding out how we can help the school get involved with the campaign.
The Plastic Free Highcliffe team were very pleased to be able to speak to Simon Fuller at Highcliffe School who has been leading the removal of plastic from the school and told us all about what the school is already doing to eliminate single-use plastics and what their plans are for this year.
They are definitely leading the way in the community.
The school was purchasing tens of thousands of plastic cups for use with water dispensers – these have been removed completely. All students have been provided with a free water bottle, paid for by the caterers.
Staff and 6th Form are encouraged to bring in their own re—usable mugs and receive a discount on drinks for doing so. Disposable coffee cups have not yet been completely eliminated but this is a step in the right direction.
All single-use plastic cutlery has been removed – all cutlery in use is now biodegradable.
All polystyrene trays used for food have been removed and replaced with cardboard alternatives.
All plastic food wrapping has been removed and any food wrapping now used is compostable cornstarch or paper. The school works with Dorset Waste Partnership currently who don’t have a compostable service, these items go into general waste for incineration. At least with the compostable alternatives, there is no impact from plastic fumes during the incineration process.
In 2020, the school Council will be looking at the following:
How students get to school
Encourage car sharing, cycling and walking
The school currently subsidises coaches and 5 minibuses to transport approx. 330 students to school, this helps take more vehicles off the road. This costs £50k per year so is not a cheap solution.
Taking Personal Responsibility
Encouraging students to take personal responsibility for their waste.
When students bring food to school in plastic, or other, packaging, they will be encouraged to take their waste home with them rather than disposing of it at school. This is so that items can be placed into an appropriate bin and recycled where possible, rather than going into general waste at school. It also helps to show students what waste they are accumulating on a day to day basis, to help inform choices.
Plastic Bottled Water
The school hasn’t yet been able to move away from plastic bottles completely as the students still like to buy carbonated drinks, for example. This is being looked at with a view to removing these options by the end of July. The school are investigating alternatives such as methods of providing these via dispensers so that students can fill up their own cups / bottles or using seaweed pouches or other alternatives.
Waste Management
The school are working towards educating students to enable them to make the right choices when disposing of waste, i.e. selecting the right bins.
The school are also working with students to ensure that waste is disposed of throughout the school grounds and not left in inappropriate places as bins cannot be installed in every location due to cost restraints.