the happy bin

Ysgol Cynlais C.P.

Weekly progress

Lauren Amy Bratton, Dosbarth 6, 11 years old:
I have enjoyed the happy bin project a lot and I have gained a lot of knowledge about saving the planet.
My favourite part of the happy bin project was the plight of the polar bear, because I like animals.
In our school we have got new recycling bins for plastic and we can see now on the website that our waste that goes to the landfill is reducing.
We started at 65kg and we have reduced, after 4 weeks, to 40kg.
We take this as quite a big achievement, and with the help of the happy bin project we should make our bins healthy.
In our class two people have been looking at the electricity metre to see how much energy we have saved.
Year 4 have been going round to check that all of the lights are turned off so that we can save some energy.
We have been trying to recycle milk cartons, but we can't because there is a plastic coating inside.
So our Eco leader Tyla Phillips talked to Kirsty Williams.
Now in my family we are trying to recycle our paper and we have started to compost all of our biodegradable products.

Below: This is the display of Happy Bin work at our school:

Steffan Caines, Age 11:
The happy bin project is about reducing, reusing and recycling and to send as little waste as possible to the landfill site.
Our school was visited by some people who performed a show by using puppets and taught us a good lesson to send as little waste to landfill as possible.
In this project we have learnt what food goes into compost, landfill or gets reused or recycled.
Our school has really thought about this project and are doing our best to help.
In dosbarth 4 they're going around every classroom to check if the lights are turned off.
The lights have been turned off every day apart from one - which was our classroom! Our school has now put two bins, one in the staff room and one in the dinner hall, where we put all plastics in.
We have learnt if we don't recycle our world is going to end quicker and a lot of animals such as the polar bears will become extinct.
20 people from our school went to visit the opening of the Diamond Park in Ystradgynlais.
Our eco council leader Tyla Phillips went to talk to Kirsty Williams about recycling milk cartons and Kirsty Williams said that she will do something about it.
This Happy Bin Project has done a lot for me and my school and me and my school will do our best to help the Happy Bin Project.
We have already reduced 25kg of waste in school.

Stephen Ellerby (School Council leader), Age 10:
I have learned with the happy bin project that we have a planet in need.
We need to save the natural environment that is under threat by us not recycling, causing air pollution and littering.
It has shown how animals are under threat by the destruction of habitats through air pollution and chopping down trees.
It has shown how composting can reduce landfill waste which produces poisonous gases.
Now from the happy bin project my family have started composting.
As a school we have managed to reduce our waste from 65kg to 40kg in 4 weeks.
Every month two people go to read the meter, to check how much power we use.
The project has motivated us as a school to make an effort to recycle our waste.
Our eco-council leader went to our local assembly member, Kirsty Williams about the problem with recycling milk cartons.
It was interesting listening to the power point on polar bears.
Our school cleaners always weigh the bins before emptying them.
Several people in my class went to the grand opening of Diamond Park, where there are a load of trees and grass over an old coal tip.

Jessica Connick, 10 years old:
Since the beginning of the happy bin project, I have learnt a lot about pollution and recycling.
I have learnt things like how we are killing polar bears because we aren't recycling and we also learnt about ways of recycling materials.
In school we are coming up with ways to reduce pollution like recycling paper and plastic, and some pupils in Dosbarth 4 are going around the classrooms at break times and dinner times to see if their lights are switched off.
Every month me and Tyla read the meter to see how much electricity we have saved.
Four weeks ago we had 65kg of rubbish but in 4 weeks we have reduced that by 25kg with a weight at 40kg.
But the major thing in the way of recycling is milk cartons because of the plastic coating.
So Tyla Phillips our eco council leader talked to Kirsty Williams our local AM about the plastic coating to see what she could do about it and she said that she would see what she could do about it. So let's hope she can sort it so we can recycle them.

Tyla Phillips, 11 years old:
I think that we are definitely re-cycling more. Re-cycling is very important to help the environment.
We also have to be aware of the Polar bears, because the ice is melting where they live and they can't catch the seals in the water. We also have to look at the hole in the ozone layer.
We have milk cartons and fruit juice boxes that we can't re-cycle because of the plastic lining inside them.
I have sent a letter off to Kirsty Williams about this problem. This school has now reduced its waste from 65kg to 40kg which is a big improvement to the school. We are also having an idea about the water we use.
Children in Dosbarth 4 are checking that the lights are off, and give the class a tick or a cross.
We find that the Happy Bin Project has helped the school a lot.

Here are some great photos of our Eco council and Year 6 children meeting the First Minister Rhodri Morgan and our local AM Kirsty Williams at the official launch of the Diamond Park Project that took place on Friday April 20th, 2007:

This photo shows our Eco council leader Tyla Phillips tackling Kirsty Williams regarding the milk carton situation. She has promised to look into this matter:

Poems by pupils

Katie Edwards' Recycling Poem

Respect wildlife, so re-cycle
Ever so small to do
Climate is getting hotter
You can feel it too
Cans, tins, plastic, paper
Load your re-cycle bins
Easy to make our planet better to live in

Our Earth

Keep our Earth healthy,
Stop polluting the air! Please!
Recycle rubbish.

Stop Global Warming!
Keep the ozone layer there,
Pollution is bad!

Recycle paper,
Don't cut down the rainforests,
Re-use more paper.

Please turn the lights off,
Please save electricity,
Buy long lasting bulbs.

Stop acid rain! Now!
The Antartic is melting,
The sea is rising.

By Elliot Antcliff Year 5.

Our Earth

Pollution destroys,
It destroys our lovely world,
Please please save our world.

Don't spoil our planet,
Re-cycle, Re-use, Re-duce,
Make the world cleaner.

Fumes are in the air,
Be very careful, indeed,
It will poison us.

Stop global warming,
We are causing all of his,
It's very scary.

The ice is melting,
In the cold Antartic,
We can stop all this.

By Callum Close Year 5

Our ECO council leader decided to write an acrostic poem on recycling:
P eople should recycle as much as they can,
L andfill is not good for this planet,
A nimals can get stuck in cans and bottles,
N o recyclables should go into landfill,
E veryone should do their part for our planet,
T eachers in school should teach you about recycling.
By Tyla Phillips

Here is a photo (above) of our Second ECO Green Flag (right) which arrived during the second week of the project. Congratulations to the pupils who won our ECO competition to design an ECO city/house of the future. Younger pupils drew pictures of their favourite fruits from the Fruit Tuck Shop.<\p>