Universal Children’s Day is approaching, a special day recognized by the United Nations. It was established in 1959 when the UN established the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This year, the focus is on empowering children in areas that affect their future, like climate change. We are dedicated to educating people about waste to help create a better future. This often means visiting schools to teach kids how to reduce their consumption and waste.

Teaching putting a badge on a child to reward them for their environmental efforts. It is the main picture for the Universal Children's Day post. This is a stock photo.

Waste audits

During this school year, waste educators have been conducting waste audits. An audit is when we assess how much waste a school generates. In one recent audit at Braunton Academy, as part of our WOW project, we worked with the school’s eco-group. They gathered all the school’s rubbish for the day, laid it out on a blue mat using safety gear, and, with the help of teachers and advisors, separated the waste. They found that some recyclable items were wrongly thrown in the trash, like food waste in the paper bin. They also noticed recyclables in the regular trash, like juice cartons and pizza packets.

Children sorting waste at an audit

Universal Children’s Day and eco groups

After the waste audit, the children had a group discussion with their teacher and brainstormed ideas to reduce waste at Braunton Academy. One of the suggestions was to encourage their peers to bring reusable cups for juice and to talk to the school’s staff about using alternative packaging. It certainly felt like child empowered eco action as celebrated in Universal Children’s Day. Oliver, one of our waste advisors, mentioned that the discussion was led by the children themselves, and it was amazing to see their enthusiasm for reducing waste. This waste audit at Braunton Academy is just one of many we will be conducting this year. We are committed to supporting children in their learning journey. It’s inspiring to see children taking the lead with their eco group, and it gives us hope for the future.

Children weighing waste at an audit

School pupil weighing black bin bag. The picture is to emphasises child empowerment theme with Universal Children's Day

Pippa the teacher leading the eco club had to say: “thank you so much to the WOW team for coming, organising and inspiring us.  We learnt so much about where our waste goes and, shockingly,  how much we generate in a 24 hour period.  We can’t wait to receive the results so that our eco – team can plan appropriate actions in school.”

School pupils sat in a large circle in a field. It is a stock photo to empahsies child empowerment on Universal Children's Day

If your school would like to take part in a WOW project please contact our waste education team.