A Glasgow school managed to cut down food waste by nearly 12kg after taking part in a ‘Waste Warriors’ initiative.
Pupils at Blackfriars Primary in the city’s southside took part in a Glasgow City Council pilot scheme over three weeks which aims to reduce plate waste in school dining halls and raise awareness of the dangerous impacts of food waste to the city’s pupils.
Initially, the catering and facilities management team went into the school and presented to the pupils at an assembly to explain the initiative and encourage the children to take part.
The school’s eco committee then took on the role as Waste Warriors every lunchtime. Armed with high vis vests, gloves and aprons, they started their war on food waste.
Waste Warriors at the school created a weighing station with scales, posters and a disposal area. The other pupils in the dinning hall would bring their trays to the station once they had finished their lunch.
Pupils were encouraged to eat a bit more food if anything was left on the tray, and would encourage other options instead of throwing away, such as sharing with a friend or taking it home for later.
Throughout lunch, the food waste bags would be filled up and their weights recorded. At the end the Waste Warriors would add it all up and find the total for the day.
Amazingly, pupils at the school reduced waste levels by 11.93kg per day.
The council plans to trial the scheme in another school in August, and a food waste reduction pack is being developed by Zero Waste Scotland for other schools in the city – with information on how they can also set up a Waste Warriors scheme. It is hoped pupils will also implement what they’ve learnt back at home too.
Louisa, a member of the Blackfriars Waste Warriors team, said: 鈥淲e are trying to reduce waste in our school, so we鈥檝e been encouraging pupils to eat more of their food and if they say they don鈥檛 like it, we make sure they don鈥檛 get it again next time.
“What we do is we have pupils bring up their trays and we鈥檝e been asking them to eat a wee bit more. Then we鈥檝e been weighing the waste bags to see how many grams it is each day.
“We want to get other pupils in the city to do be doing this as well in their school to help reduce food waste in the city.鈥
Cllr Christina Cannon, City Convener for Education and Early Years, added: 鈥淭he Waste Warriors pilot is a fun way of engaging and educating our pupils about the dangerous impact of excess food waste and the small changes we can all implement to benefit the environment.
鈥淭his pupil-centred initiative gives our young people the autonomy to make positive environmental change as leaders of their own learning. I鈥檓 so proud of their hard work, and commitment and enthusiasm to make a real difference. Well done, Blackfriars!鈥
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