Rhode Street School, the kura that composts and built an ecological island

Situated in the southwestern Hamilton suburb of Dinsdale and established in 1959 on Ngaati Maahanga whenua, Rhode Street School continues to deliver an ecological approach to learning for Year 0 to Year 8 ākonga. A signature aspect of the Schools' curriculum is the incorporation of mātauranga Māori, which marries Te Ao Māori with future focused learning. It is this approach that gives students a connection to the whenua, which makes conservation, recycling and waste minimisation a matter of importance to them. Here, Alaister Kerr, an Enviroschool practitioner at Rhode Street School, shares how their school is composting the packaging and leftovers of 240 plus lunches daily and recycling with ākonga, reminding other ākonga of their responsibilities, in full participation, further deepening the mutual dependencies between their world and the that of nature.

How many students are you feeding each week? Or how many meals are you providing?

We're still sorting our roll for this year, but towards the end of term 4, we were regularly providing 240-250 lunches a day. School lunches are made on-site and placed in compostable cardboard containers, so there is very little waste. We also conduct waste audits to try to ensure that our waste is minimised.

What does your current waste management process look like?

We are an Enviroschool and have had compost bins for 20+ years, but now, with us providing school lunches, all the food scraps and lunch containers (3-4 days a week it is Ecoware containers and 1-2 days paper bags) go straight into one of 3 food container bins which one class is responsible for emptying into the compost after lunch each day.

Prior to this, students brought their own lunch and the amount of waste was a whole lot more - particularly packets and wrappers. I have had parents comment to me on what they've learned from their children and others, saying that their children are a lot more aware of waste and recycling.

What have you been able to divert? Is it all food waste and compostable packaging from general waste collections or a percentage of it? If not all, what have you been able to divert? What challenges have you faced?

The biggest challenge currently is educating the students as to what goes in which bin. We have a bin for the food containers and bamboo cutlery. A second bin for landfill (there are a few students who bring their own lunches) and a bucket for food scraps (apple cores, banana peels, etc). Recycling plastic, cans, etc, is in another bin, and we recycle paper too —each classroom has a bin for that. We perform waste audits—usually late in term 1 to serve as a reminder to ākonga about what goes where. But not in a quantifiable manner. 

Is this your sign to start composting?

Are you able to compost on site and need packing suitable for a backyard compost environment? Please email us at hello@ecoware.co.nz for assistance selecting packaging to best suit your requirements. Alternatively, if you are looking to organise collections for industrial composting, we can also provide guidance on service providers in your region.