Reduce, re-use, recycle

Have you ever wondered where that juice box, chewed up straw or sweet wrapper go? Most Grade 3s figured that was the easiest question to answer. In the bin, in the bin! They shouted with excitement. Then what? the teachers enquired further.

The simple answer suddenly became complicated. It took Grade 3s a fortnight to fully comprehend the dynamics of correctly managing waste. Learning about 3 R’s of waste management has been astonishing. And what a topic it has been! We have learnt that to save our planet we need to come up with sustainable ways of living. In other words, reduce, reuse and recycle and that each one of us has a part to play in this.Our learners’ have become conscious of waste and how easy it is to waste and that waste management takes effort but yields wonderful results. What are these 3 Rs? Reduce The term 'reduce' aims at lowering the usage of natural resources to avoid wastage.

There are many ways that one can reduce. CityKidz has reduced the printing of worksheets and newsletters drastically. We encourage our community to read on line. At home you can try these; buy only what you need to avoid wastage, close the tap when brushing your teeth, use a bucket to wash the car instead of a hose and switch off the lights when you are not in the room. Reuse Reusing helps to lessen the destruction of more natural resources. We can reuse by taking a cloth bag when we go for shopping so that we don’t buy plastic bags. You can donate clothes and other household items for further reuse. By so doing we reduce the amount of waste disposal. Recycle Recycling is the process of collecting materials that would otherwise be thrown away as trash and turning them into new products. Our planters at school are made of tyres. Do not throw away glass jars or plastic containers. These can be turned into pencil holders, planters and used for storage. This will help clean up our cities, schools and homes.

Why the 3R’s are so important? They affect our environment at a larger scale. Issues of global warming and climate change can be linked to the poor waste management. Recently in KZN, were devastating floods which claimed a lot of lives. The floods left a trail of disaster. Buildings, homes roads and schools were destroyed. Rebuilding will cost billions! This planet is our only home. Let’s work together to save it. Grades 3’s have embarked on an initiative for the up-coming Slumber Party. As a way of implementing what we have learnt, we have decided to bring our own cups from home instead of using disposal ones.

Together let’s reduce the waste! LET US REDUCE WASTE THIS UPCOMING SLUMBER PARTY. BRING YOUR FAVOURITE MUG OR CUP FOR YOUR HOT CHOCOLATE. Grade 3 Team