Rotorua schools ditch rubbish bins

Some Rotorua schools are ditching rubbish bins and making students responsible for their own litter.
Instead of putting their lunch rubbish in the bin, students will be asked to put their rubbish in their lunch boxes and take it home.
Several Rotorua schools have been using the anti-litter system for many years and Otonga Rd Primary School is the latest to jump on board.
Year 1 student Liam McFarlane, 5, told The Daily Post how they had been using containers for their lunches.
"We're using containers for our lunches then we put our rubbish in our lunch boxes and then put it into the bin at home."
Otonga principal Linda Woon said there were several components to the programme.
Mrs Woon said taking rubbish home was showing parents what their children were not eating, while encouraging them to put their children's lunches in reusable containers and teaching students the importance of recycling.
Already, she said, the school had noticed a big decrease in the volume of rubbish collected.
"We're starting to see parents packing lunches with reusable containers."
The school's environmental leader, teacher Amanda Jeffrey, said it was a way of building awareness and educating the students about the environment.
She said litter-less lunches were fairly common in New Zealand schools.
"It's something we've been thinking about for a while."
The school was now "phasing out" rubbish bins and Mrs Jeffrey said the response from parents had been good so far. "And the students are really enjoying it."
Already, she had noticed a huge difference in the number of containers students were taking to school as opposed to food in wrappers.
"We all have to make an effort for a sustainable future."
Kaharoa School principal Warwick Moyle said they had been using the litter-less lunch system for several years and it worked well. "We find the best way to keep litter under control is for students to take their rubbish home with them."
Mr Moyle said it was useful for parents and as an ongoing learning tool for students.
A question on The Daily Post Facebook page ignited debate over whether litter-less lunches were a good idea.
Some readers said that having no bins meant students would dump their rubbish on the ground or on the streets outside of school.
"No rubbish bins means more litter on the school grounds or after school they will drop it all on the side of the road..." one reader said.
However, others were impressed by the initiative: "I trust that we, as adults, would all bring our rubbish home with us, if we were out for the day somewhere. Why not expect our children to show the same respect for their school environment? Good on the school and the children for setting a positive example".
Another parent said that her child's school had not had bins for years, and while she found it a hassle, it did make her think twice about the packaging that went into her child's lunch box.