Organic waste

In order to find out how much organic waste your household sends to landfill you will need to run a waste audit.

Some of you may have run a waste audit at school, some of you may have never run a waste audit before. Running a waste audit at home it is a little different from what we do when we run one at school so make sure you try and follow these instructions as best you can.

Setting up a waste audit -

What you will need:

1. Permission from an adult in your household

2. Gloves (any type will do - garden gloves, washing up gloves)

3. A space outside or something to cover a space indoors (small tarp, newspaper). If it is windy indoors is better.

4. One days worth of rubbish from inside your house - your inside rubbish bin (which will need to be emptied the day before by you)

5. A peg for your nose (only kidding!)

Thinking about safety -

1. You must wash your hands with soap for 20 seconds or more before you start and after you finish. Then put on gloves.

2. You must look out for glass. If you see any broken glass you must stop straight away and call an adult to remove the glass. If it can't be removed then you will need to stop your audit and try again another day, following the same procedure.

3. Watch out for bees that might be attracted to any food scraps.

4. Look out for any other sharp or dangerous objects. If you find anything you think may be unsafe, let an adult know.

If you have read about the safety and have everything you need you are ready to start!

Now it's time to run your waste audit to show how much organic waste your family sends to landfill in one day.

- Have a read of the attached file to help you (see below).

- Print or view the data sheet attached to help you record your results. If you are unable to print this sheet off then just take notes in a workbook, or on a scrap of paper.

- Make sure an adult knows what you are doing and that you have your gloves on.

- Don't forget to wash your hands before and after you finish.

- Find everything you need, lay a tarp or newspaper down if you are inside, and collect your day's worth of waste.

Good luck with your sorting! Don't forget to tidy up after you have finished.