Waste Management in a Private Kindergarten School

Waste Management in a Private Kindergarten School

Background:
It is generally recognized that solid waste has become a major problem
in many countries, including Thailand. Although the government has
provided some leadership on the supply side of waste management by
providing facilities and infrastructure such as sanitary landfills, the growing
volume of solid waste in Thailand magnifies the urgency of searching for
appropriate landfill sites every year. This search has become more difficult
due to conflicts between local communities and governmental agencies.
It is therefore, essential for the government to startlooking for solutions
on the demand-side of waste management approaches, such as in reuse
and recycling. The introduction of recycling activities is a huge challenge,
however, since waste sorting activities are unfamiliar to local people.
Accordingly, a number of waste management projects in their early phases
could not achieve their goals because awareness raising had not been sufficiently
emphasized. Awareness raising has thus become increasingly important,
particularly for the younger generations. A wide range of
environmental education (EE) projects highlighting environmental awareness
have therefore been developed in many schools and youth groups in the country.
The Maneeya School is one of these, a private kindergarten school with
17 teachers and 150 students of 4 levels, namely, pre-kindergarten and
Anuban 1-3 (Kindergarten 1-3).

Objectives:
The Maneeya School developed a waste management system for waste separation
practices along with a so-called “garbage bank” in order to improve
waste disposal and provide applied environmental education (EE) to the students.


Description of the activity:
The school implemented a waste separation scheme to distinguish recyclable
wastes for trading from the food debris as feed for swine. The garbage bank
activity then becomes an extension of the above that provides an opportunity for
students to become more environmentally conscious and to extend this
information to their families and local communities.
The garbage bank activity is an imitation of a commercial bank where bank
deposits are not money but recyclable wastes. At the bank, recyclable wastes
from their surrounding school areas and households are collected.
Newspapers, magazines, glass bottles and plastic packaging, are
collected and deposited by participating students. A transaction price for
these collected wastes is then calculated according to the current market
and registered in the student’s savings account. The garbage bank,
operated mainly by the school staff, also acts as the coordinating body
for collection and trading. The bank categorizes these wastes sorted by
the students and sells them to Sai-ma Sub-district
Administrative Organization (SAO) that in turn sells
recyclable wastes to private traders in larger volumes.

Overview
The model for solid waste management at Maneeya School is waste separation
practice sponsored by the school along with a garbage bank that combines
to provide environmental education for the students.

Awareness/capacity-building
(Hands-on environmental education)
Since environmental awareness plays a key role in the success of waste separation practices, awareness raising and capacity building programs for students and school personnel are a critical element for implementation. In practice, the students gradually learn about waste separation and waste recycling. Inter-communication between students and parents is also a powerful tool for sharing information with the community and making realize the benefits of waste separation and recycling.

Organisational arrangement
(Role of the garbage bank)
The garbage bank is a significant link between waste separation programs in the school and waste management practices in the homes. The garbage bank is also a focal point which ensures a smooth coordination and management. The bank has been set up as one of the school’s regular activities; it therefore facilitates the transfer of information from the students to their parents. Parents are thus willing to participate in the project because it is an opportunity to raise environmental awareness in their children, as well as giving them more confidence that wastes sorted out in this school management system will not be mixed up eventually somewhere else along the line.

Self-regulation
(Responsibility as a educational organisation)
Solid waste management in Maneeya School has been implemented in order to improve the
environmental performance of the school in terms of waste disposal, while providing handson environmental education for the students. Being an organisation which provides early childhood education, the school feels that it is its responsibility to raise environmental awareness in the new generation.

Impacts
Waste separation has brought about a decrease in school wastes. The activity is not only an improvement of environmental performance of the school in terms of waste management, but also in the development of better waste separation practices in the participating homes. This activity also creates extra income from the trading of waste. However, the financial issue is not the major concern; it is more important that the participating students have gained environmental awareness through these hands-on experiences. The students have developed better consciousness of waste management and their families have also been influenced to develop an awareness concerning waste separation and recycling.

Lessons Learned
Implementation of environmental management systems through public participation from
children to parents is a good illustration of a capacity building scheme at the local level. Moreover, since children are a valuable resource for future development, raising
environmental awareness among the young generation will lay a solid ground for future
developments. In essence, if the capacity building scheme can reach the smallest unit of
society, such as the children and their family, this will be a first step in a sustainable environmental management system.

Potential for Application
Waste separation is a simple practice that can be applied in many kinds of organisations since only limited resources are required. Furthermore, the garbage bank idea is a waste separation practice suitable for recyclable wastes in low economic return situations where these wastes are unlikely to be sorted by waste scavengers and waste traders. Nonetheless, since these wastes are separated at source, they are not contaminated and can be sold at higher prices The concept of the garbage bank is now being implemented by many organizations in Thailand, mostly schools, youth groups and local governments. Nonetheless, this kind of activity can also be applied to business enterprises in trading and service sectors. For example, a grocery shop or a convenience store could be a coordinating body for waste traders and local community members.

Impacts

It should be noted, however, that a strong commitment from project participants is extremely critical. Thus, it is essential that an appropriate awareness raising scheme be in place. Furthermore, waste separation and garbage bank practices can only be done successfully when the government’s central waste collection and management systems for separated wastes are available.