Waste Nothing Schools Challenge
More than 3,000 families from 11 primary schools across the city are taking part in the October 2021 Waste Nothing Schools Challenge. Students are being challenged to think outside the box and hopefully, schools and families all learn a little something along the way!
Have you got the most recycling-savvy students? Desperate for some friendly competition with your neighbouring schools?
If you think your school, or your children’s primary school is up to the challenge, you can register your interest today for the next round. Simply email the Bristol Waste Schools team at schools@bristolwastecompany.co.uk with your school’s details.
What is the Waste Nothing Schools Challenge?
It’s a take-home inter-school challenge to educate and encourage school pupils and their families to reduce waste and recycle more at home.
The project invites the whole classroom to think differently about what we waste by challenging pupils with five fun tasks. The children will be helped along the way by a crack team of “Zero Waster” fun characters.
Who is the challenge for?
The challenge is aimed at Key Stage 1 and 2 primary school children and is designed to support other parts of the curriculum.
In March 2021 we had eight primary schools across Bristol take part in the trial. 11 schools are taking part in the October 2021 Waste Nothing Schools Challenge. We want to inspire children to reduce waste, not litter and recycle more in the household.
What do we win?
Winning schools get a certificate to put in pride of place. This showcases how you are engaging students in caring about the planet and its resources.
Every student who participates will get Zero Waster stickers for completing each challenge (provided with your challenge booklet).
Why not make it even more fun and competitive? Schools can award house or class points for exceptional engagement!
Want your school to take part in the next challenge?
All you need to do is register your interest. Simply send your school's details to schools@bristolwastecompany.co.uk or use the link below.
Our March 2021 trial
In March we launched the challenge with a trial for eight schools across Bristol where they competed for the top spot. 2,676 children participated. The children completed a series of challenges about waste minimisation, recycling, reuse and litter.
Following on from this successful trial, we awarded the winning schools with a prize for everything they achieved over the two-week period.
Bristol Breakfast Rotary Club
The Bristol Breakfast Rotary Club sponsored our Waste Nothing Schools Challenge trial and will contribute a prize for the October 2021 challenge.
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My young person is taking part in the next challenge
Great news, your young person is getting involved in something really important and leading the way for Waste Nothing Schools!
We give each child a Waste Nothing Schools Challenge booklet with five challenges to complete. It’s more fun and easier to complete these as a family and great to get the whole household involved. We want to see everything you’ve done on the challenges, so fill in each page and be sure to hand it back to the teacher by the date set by your school.
You will then be awarded stickers for each completed challenge and the school can allocate house or class points for exceptional engagement.
A little more about litter picking
Be an advocate, explain to your friends and family why dropping litter is bad. You can read about the impact litter has, not only on wildlife, but our pets in our Litter Hurts campaign.
Stay safe:
- Litter pick when it’s safe. Don’t pick anything up with bare hands – if you don’t have a litter picker then use gloves
- Borrow a litter picking kit from us
- Don’t pick up sharp or nasty objects, they can be reported here
- Follow government social distancing guidance at all times
Make sure you show us what you’ve been up to via social. We love to see what students have managed to make and do with the challenges and it’s great to see everyone getting involved!
Be sure to use the hashtag #WasteNothing and tag us on social as we’ll share anything we spot.
Our social media handles are; Facebook: @bristolwaste, Twitter: @BristolWaste and Instagram: @bristolwastecompany
Need another copy of the challenge booklet? Simply download it here.
Waste Nothing Schools Challenge booklet
(725 KB)