Talks and Education Schools

Waste education in schools

We have a range of interactive engagement activities for schools to use on reuse, recycling, composting and household food waste.

All of our resources are free to Leicestershire schools and academies, ranging from assemblies and workshops to downloadable resources.

Assemblies and workshops

We currently offer face to face assemblies and workshops on the following topics:

• Recycling
• Composting
• Reducing food waste
• Reducing packaging and moving away from single use

Please allow 15 to 20 minutes for an assembly and 45 mins to one hour for a workshop.

Activities

We can bring these activities to assemblies and workshops or, if you are looking for resources to deliver your own waste focused lesson or workshop, you can borrow or take inspiration from our kit. The following activities are available:

Recycling activity

A range of different household items are put on a display board and the children have to say whether the item can be recycled or not at home.

‘Which bin?’ beanbag activity

The children must decide where they would dispose of the item on the beanbag and throw it into the correct hole in the display.

Food waste storage activity

The children must decide where the best place is to store the different items by placing the magnet on the correct board. This is a good opportunity to also educate the children on the different labels (i.e. best before and use by).

You’ll find more information on these and a range of other free, self-guided resources that are available to download and use on our Leicestershire Traded Services website.

Pre-recorded presentations

We also have pre-recorded video presentations which can be watched online during assemblies or as part of a lesson:

• Recycling (7 minutes):  Information around the importance of recycling; what happens to your recycling once it leaves your home and the issues around putting the wrong things in the recycling bin.
• Composting (5 minutes): This covers the benefits of composting; how the process works and what items to put in. We also offer guidance (and more detailed videos) for parents and teachers.
• Food Waste (4 minutes): This covers the impact of food waste; why it’s important to not throw food away and tips on reducing your own food waste at home.
• Wear, care and repair (5 minutes):  Facts and information on textile waste and advice on smart buying, care and repair, upcycling, re-fashion and responsible disposal.

If you are interested in using these resources, would like more information or would like to provide feedback on how we can engage better with yourselves, please make contact.

Assemblies, workshops, activities and the pre-recorded videos can be requested:
by email: wasteprevention@leics.gov.uk
by telephone: 0116 305 7005