Students at Kirk Hallam Community Academy were urged to consider how their actions impacted on the environment during a theatre company workshop.
A total of 240 Year 8 students took part in a programme called Waste Watchers, which is led by theatre company We Are Gibber and funded by Derbyshire County Council.
The session started off with all students watching a play which follows the story of three Year 8 students all with differing knowledge, attitude and opinions about environmental issues.
Students then took part in a workshop during which they learnt the importance of the 3Rs and considered what actions they could take to reduce, reuse and recycle their waste to help protect the environment for themselves and future generations.
One exercise involved students guessing how long it would take for different objects to decompose including a sock, an apple and a plastic bottle.
Claire Linley, PSHE co-ordinator at Kirk Hallam Community Academy, said students thoroughly enjoyed their sessions with We Are Gibber.
She said: “This is an important message to deliver to our students and will hopefully encourage them to reduce and reuse more. It’s also something that they can take home with them and talk to their parents about too.”
Mili Price, 13, said the workshop had made her think about what she could do to be more environmentally friendly
She said: “We had to split into groups and look at items in a bin bag and think about if they would need to go into the bin or if they could be recycled.”
Millie Cannon, 13, said some of the facts that she learnt had surprised her.
She said: “We learnt a lot of interesting facts and I think it’s good because it will help us to help the environment.”
Callum Stewart, from We Are Gibber, said students had interacted well during the workshops.
He said: “They had some really good answers and it’s obvious that they already knew a lot about recycling. Hopefully we’ve encouraged them to think what more they could do to help the environment.”
We Are Gibber is currently touring secondary schools in Derbyshire with its Waste Watchers performance and workshops.