Matipo Primary School is on a mission to recycle more and waste less, and thanks to a generous donation of 44 bins from Bunnings, plus support from CrestClean’s RecycleKiwi resources, the school is well on its way.
Executive Officer Teresa Rudolph has been driving the project, with strong support from Principal Jonnie Black, staff, and students. She says the goal is to teach children how to sort their rubbish properly and reduce what goes to landfill.
“We’re trying to teach our children about the the different types of recycling,” says Teresa.
“It’s also teaching the children a bit more responsibility. The seniors are taking charge and helping empty the bins at the end of each day.”
Everyone has pitched in to make the project a success – even the school’s CrestClean cleaning team, Dharmesh and Twinkal Patel. The team gave up their Saturday morning to scrub eight 240L outdoor bins, ensuring the school could start fresh with clean, contamination-free recycling.
“Waste Management had told us our bins had become contaminated and that’s why they weren’t being picked up,” says Teresa.
“CrestClean cleaned all of these for us so we could start again and make sure each bin was being used properly.”
Now, with RecycleKiwi posters and stickers clearly identifying each bin, it’s much easier for students and staff to know what goes where. Teresa keeps an eye on the bins every couple of days, and Dharmesh leaves little reminder notes if rubbish ends up in the wrong place.
“The different colours help identify where each item of rubbish should be placed.”
“We’re still learning, but we’re interested in making it right. It’s become quite a big conversation and hopefully kids are taking these habits home to help with the bigger picture,” Teresa says.
The project came together with the support of CrestClean’s Auckland West Regional Manager Caro Wedding, who teamed up with Shania Esau from Bunnings to arrange the donation of the bin. CrestClean then provided the RecycleKiwi resources to get the programme up and running.
RecycleKiwi is a free, fun initiative that helps schools learn how to recycle the right way, with bright posters, bin stickers, and easy-to-follow resources. It’s all about making recycling simple and helping kids build lasting habits.
Teresa says the new bins have really helped keep each classroom looking neat and organised.
“It looks really nice having the same bins in each class. It makes the classrooms look a lot tidier.”
The staff and students at Matipo Primary School are truly thankful for the generous bin donation and for Caro’s efforts in co-ordinating the programme. They’re also very grateful to their cleaning team, who went above and beyond to help the school roll out the new waste management programme.
“The money we saved from Bunnings donating the bins was astronomical,” says Teresa.
While changing habits takes time, Teresa says the progress has already been encouraging. With everyone working together, Matipo Primary School is setting a great example of how schools can help their students build habits that will last a lifetime.