Students keen to brush upon recycling techniques

Bunbury Primary School has been recognised for recycling more than 7000 pieces of toothbrush and toothpaste related waste, which have been turned into new items such as pencil cases. The school received a Certificate of Excellence for its haul as part of the TerraCycle Colgate Community Garden Challenge. The program encourages schools around Australia to recycle items such as brushes, toothpaste containers, floss, empty mouthwash containers and the heads from electric toothbrushes, teaching students and school communities good recycling habits. Associate principal Franca Dillon said the school community was well deserving of the recognition. “Each class had their own box and we had one at the front office so we encouraged the community to do it as well,” she said. “At one point we were the lead school in Australia, but we were up against high schools and schools with 800 kids, we only have 440.” The TerraCycle program was one of a number of recycling and environmental programs the school had become involved in. “We have sustainable projects for ink cartridges, glasses, paper and cardboard, soft and hard plastics and ring-pull recycling, which we have been doing for quite a while,” Mrs Dillon said. Year 3 student Ved Baradiya recognised the importance recycling had on the environment. “We need to recycle all the items so they can be reused instead of going to landfill so we can help the environment,” he said. “We do it so the seas don’t get polluted.”