Published Tuesday, 8th October 2024
Six Surrey schools, including two from Reigate & Banstead, have been awarded a total of £6,000 as part of the Rethink Waste scheme.
The Rethink
Waste scheme is a Surrey Environment Partnership’s (SEP) initiative aimed at encouraging Surrey residents to reduce what they waste.
The prize money will fund various environmental projects at the winning schools, including building a home for school guinea pigs, installing a green roof, creating raised beds, developing class gardens, building a bug hotel, and purchasing litter-picking equipment.
Earlier this year, 32 schools across Surrey joined the scheme, which allowed nearly 10,000 Rethink Waste members to donate points they earned by participating in waste reduction activities. The schools with the highest number of donated points were awarded cash prizes to invest in environmental improvements. The winning schools are:
- Furzefield Primary and Nursery School, Merstham
- Northmead Junior School, Guildford
- Clandon C of E School, Guildford
- Bagshot Infant School
- Walton-on-the-Hill Primary School, Tadworth
Katharine Kothe, a teacher at Furzefield Primary and Nursery School (pictured in attached image), said:
“Participating in Rethink Waste was a fantastic way to get our wider school community involved in choosing to follow a more environmentally friendly lifestyle. It was easy to take part and donate points, but also full of amazing suggestions that were easy to implement in daily life. The emails and support for teachers behind the scenes were wonderful, as was the competition element as it helped us strive to be number one.
I didn’t realise how competitive our school community was until another school overtook us, Furzefield really rallied to reach the top and we were astounded by the community involvement and support! We are extremely grateful to have received £1,500 and our Eco Committee are excited to spend it on furthering our work to improve the environment for our school and the local area.”
Cllr Nadean Moses, Reigate & Banstead Borough Council’s Executive Member for Sustainability and Leisure, commented: “It was a pleasure to visit Furzefield Primary School and hear firsthand how excited and knowledgeable the children were about their ambitious plans to create a green roof and build more bug hotels in their wildflower areas. I am sure what they are learning now will stay with them and that they’ll be passing on sustainability tips to friends and families too.
“A new phase of school donations is now open with two more Reigate & Banstead schools taking part. Any resident with a Surrey postcode can sign up to the scheme to receive weekly content about different ways to reduce waste and the opportunity to make donations to a charity or local school.”
Cllr Marisa Heath, Chair of the SEP, commented: “We are delighted to see these Surrey schools benefit from the Rethink Waste scheme. The funds will support a range of fantastic projects that will enhance their local environments. Importantly, the schools are also helping us engage Surrey residents, with nearly 10,000 households signing up to Rethink Waste and learning how to reduce waste for the benefit of the planet.”
A further 15 Surrey primary schools, including Epsom Downs Community School and Wray Common School in Reigate & Banstead, have signed up to take part in Rethink Waste with members able to donate points to them until 17 November 2024.