Waste management

The Eco Schools award scheme has been established as part of the Banish Rubbish campaign to work with educational programmes to cover:

• litter;
• waste minimisation;
• energy;
• water;
• transport;
• healthy living;
• school grounds;
• global perspective;
• biodiversity.

Advice and information is available once a school has joined the scheme, which can be especially useful for any improvements to the school environment. Groundwork Medway Swale and the European-funded Interreg IIIA Environmental Stewardship project back the scheme.

Eco Schools (www.eco-schools.org.uk) is a great way to begin or further children's understanding of the environment. All the themes are linked to the national curriculum. To join, visit the website and follow the instructions at www.eco-schools.org.uk/howto/index_uk.htm. The scheme works at a pace suitable for each school and they are supported at all stages. A network of fellow Eco Schools is also available through the website, enabling schools to share best practice.

This is a way to bring together the school community and take a sustainable approach to any improvements on the school grounds, as pupils will be involved with projects from the start.

The scheme has been used as an inventive way of studying a variety of subjects in the National Curriculum including English literature, art, geography and science. It also has several links to the Healthy Schools scheme and is co-ordinated locally by Medway Council. Please visit the international website (www.eco-schools.org) for more information and ideas about the scheme and how it works in other countries.

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