Year 4 saw the mountain of rubbish at Carymoor Environmental Trust

'Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.' was the theme of the day as Year 4 ventured to Carymoor Environmental Education Centre.

With ideas freshly awash from last year's ‘Festival of Sustainability’, it was a fantastic opportunity for all of the children to revisit some of the key issues which affect us as individuals and our communities, on a local and global scale. The children explored renewable and non-renewable energy sources, food miles, conservation and sustainability, whilst having a closer look at the impact human activity has on the planet. The realisation that the supplies of many raw materials which we take for granted, for example, indium, which enables screens to be touch sensitive, will have been exhausted before the children have finished their school career, was a surprise. Through a variety of songs, examinations of photographs, discussions, games and the story of the journey of 'Corrin the Banana', the children were able to improve their knowledge and understanding of the delicate nature of the environment and the way in which humans impact both positively and negatively upon the world. All of this was pitted  against the stark reality of the contrasting backdrop of the active landfill site at Carymoor.

As part of the emphasis on recycling, the children took part in a workshop to use old plastic carrier bags to create recycled kites. Carefully, all the children followed the instructions to cut specific shapes and attach willow to make a range of vibrant kites, complete with flapping tails and ribbons. Luckily, there was just enough wind up on the hill for the kites to take off. Some of the kites needed a bit more encouragement than others to take to the air, which meant a lot of dashing around, flapping, pulling string and talking to the wind. However, all of the kites did make it up, and stay up momentarily, with only the slight inconvenience of a detached wellington boot, and consequently, a very muddy foot in the enthusiasm!

The trip culminated in a guided tour around the landfill site. The first stop was delving into the newly created underground exhibition; a guided tour through the ages as to what discarded waste was to be found at different levels of the site. The children were equally fascinated and puzzled by some of the contents of the exhibits; the realisation that phones used to be "enormous" and actually attached to a cable in the wall was quite a shock for some! The children thoroughly enjoyed handling the exhibits, and equally found it bizarre to think of everything that was buried underneath where they were standing, which is now an area  more akin to a hilly nature reserve. Whilst exploring the rolling mounds and carefully planted greenery, the children were fascinated to discuss and see first-hand the process of what happens to their waste as we walked around the site. Luckily, the group arrived at key locations at just the right time to see plenty of action; the compost piles were being turned, there was a flurry of vehicles being weighed entering and exiting the site, and upon arrival at the main active site for dumping, several lorries had just turned up to off-load. The children had lots of opportunities to ask questions about the process and were mesmerised by the machinery and what they could identify amongst the rubbish.

All in all, a very informative and enjoyable experience for everyone. A big thank you must got to the enthusiastic and enlightening staff at Carymoor.

Miss Rudd.

Click here to see the photographs in our Flickr album