Reduce My Rubbish
What can you do?
MoreWelcome to our Waste and Recycling teaching resources section.
Here you’ll find information packs, detailed lesson plans and a wide selection of curriculum linked activity ideas that can be easily adapted to suit the group’s needs.
+ Reusable Period Products
Learn how reusable pants, pads and cups can save money compared to buying disposables and save the environment too. Click here for more details.
Order your FREE Reusable Period Products teacher kit to be delivered to your school in Norfolk.
The Reusables Teacher Kit includes 1 x small period cup, 1 x reusable day pad, 1 x reusable night pad, 1 x reusable panty liner, 1 x period pants, 1 x my period cards. (Max 2 packs per school)
Complete the order form here.
Download FREE education packs about periods. Social enterprise Hey Girls have created comprehensive lesson plans and animations for teachers to use with students of all ages to raise knowledge and awareness of periods. Including details of reusable period products. 
Hey Girls FREE Primary schools pack, includes Teachers’ Guide Plans, activities and 4 Lessons for use with pupils aged 8+, hints and tips for assemblies, and an educational animation for primary school students.
Hey Girls FREE Secondary schools pack, includes plans for 5 Activities and 7 Lessons for use across the school, hints and tips for assemblies, extra-curricular activities, and an educational animation for secondary school students.
+ Norfolk Recycles Activity Sheets
We’ve put together some fun waste themed activity sheets for children that are great for use in school or at home.
Find out about recycling, search for compost creatures, have a go at cooking with leftovers or create a single-use sea creature.
+ Reduce Single-Use Award Scheme
Sign up to our ‘Reduce Single-Use Award Scheme’ and earn certificates for cutting down on the amount of single-use plastics and products in your school.
The accompanying Primary School and Secondary School Resource Packs contain lots of information and practical ideas to help you to help you to reduce single-use one step at a time.
From plastic wrapped sandwiches and disposable spoons to pre-packed snacks and throw away bottles, schools play host to a whole range of single-use products. Single-use products are items that are only used once before being thrown away or recycled. Huge amounts of energy and resources are used to create them and, although only used for a few moments, will have a long-lasting impact on our planet.
Getting involved with this project is not only a great way of involving students in tackling important environmental issues, but it will also allow you to earn awards for your schools and can help towards achieving an Eco-schools award too.
For further information, resources and to sign up please click here.
Looking for some inspiration to get you started? Take a look at our case study to learn more about what Bignold Primary School have done to earn their Bronze and Silver Reduce Single-Use Awards. To view the case study, please click here.
+ Waste Free Lunch Pack
Lunchtimes can be a very wasteful time in schools, with pupils bringing lots of throw away packaging in their packed lunches. Challenging them to bring in a ‘waste free lunch’, that produces as little waste as possible, is a great way to address this. Our waste free lunch pack contains lots of ideas and information to get you started.
+ Love Norfolk Hate Litter School's Pack
Join in with Norfolk’s Litter Campaign, designed to help primary school teachers raise awareness about the issues surrounding litter and to provide support with taking practical action to tackle the problem. This pack contains lots of information, facts, an assembly plan, curriculum linked activity ideas, games and advice on organising a school litter pick.
+ Lunch and Snack time Ideas
Encourage the use refillable water bottles.- Provide snacks without any packaging
- Introduce a weekly or monthly waste-free lunch day where pupils are asked to bring a packed lunch which produces as little waste as possible.
- Set-up compost bins for food waste – you could also try your hand at a wormery; they are great fun and will also produce liquid plant feed for the school garden!
- Speak to the school’s food suppliers about delivering supplies with less packaging or returnable/reusable packaging.
+ Single Use Swaps
The overuse of single-use plastic is an issue that is having a significant impact on our environment. There are some simple changes we can all make to help to tackle this problem. Our ‘single-use swaps’ sheet gives some useful tips for making changes both at home and at school.
+ Schools Textile Recycling Scheme
Norfolk County Council has teamed up with The Salvation Army’s Recycle with Michael scheme to offer all Norfolk schools the chance to raise money by recycling textiles.
By signing up for a collection the school will:
- Raise money for school funds
- Support a charity
- Help the environment
- Receive free educational resources
- Work towards an eco-schools award
The Salvation Army can use all your unwanted, pre loved, outgrown clothing, linen and any other textiles you would be kind enough to donate. These items are used for various projects to ensure we recycle and, in addition, raise vital funds for the charity.
For more information please visit the Salvation Army’s schools pages or email RecyclewMichael@satcol.org.
+ Further Challenges
The work you complete for our Reduce Single-Use Award Scheme can also contribute towards further accreditations.
Eco schools offers schools the chance to gain accreditation for introducing, managing and completing environmental actions in their organisation and local community. They offer ten different topic areas to work within, one of which is waste.
Surfers Against Sewage run a plastic free schools programme that offers further accreditation and resources for nurseries, primary schools and secondary schools. The work you’ve completed so far can contribute to this, plus you will be provided with further challenges.
Norfolk Youth Parliament campaigns on the issues that matter most to young people. It helps those aged 11-18 to have a voice on the future of Norfolk and make a positive contribution to their community. One of their current priorities is tackling plastic pollution. To find out more, get involved or contribute, click here.
+ Changes to make around school
Set-up an Eco-council and start looking for ways to reduce waste around school – you could even sign up to the Eco-schools program.- Print only when necessary. Try and keep electronic copies of files instead of printing everything out.
- Make double-sided photocopies where possible.
- Use whiteboards for planning (rather than paper).
- Shredded paper can be recycled, composted or used for arts and crafts projects.
- Have a scrap paper tray for any paper that has only been written or printed on one side.
- Make sure that clearly labelled waste and recycling bins are available around school.
- For further information about how to Recycle At School, check out Recycle Now.
+ Recycling themed lesson plans & activities
Introduction to Waste and Recycling Presentation/Assembly
This can be run either with the whole school, or a smaller group, and provides an introduction to waste and the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle). Please click here to access.
Waste Audit Lesson Plans
In order to identify what your school throws away and any particular problem areas, a waste audit can be carried out. This involves collecting, sorting and weighing waste from around the school in order to produce an action plan that aims to reduce the waste and improve recycling. Please click here to access.
Recycling Race Lesson Plan
A great introduction to recycling. This session explores the different items that can be recycled at home and involves the children in a hands on ‘sorting race’ to work out which bin different things need to be placed in. Please click here to access.
Help Others to Recycle Lesson Plan
This session looks at the various options for disposing of waste and discusses how recycling is beneficial. The pupils will be encouraged to use a range of information sources to investigate what can and can’t be recycled at home. Please click here to access.
Activity Ideas
We have developed a whole range of curriculum linked activities that provide some great ideas for broadening and enhancing any waste or recycling linked topic. Please click here to access.
+ Recycling and environmentally themed books
Books, both fiction and non-fiction, can provide a great way to introduce a new topic or provide inspiration for project work.
Please click here for information about a range of environmentally themed books.
+ Leaflets and other resources
This child friendly leaflet is designed to help you to find out what you can and can’t put in your home recycling bin.