Students at Saint John Houghton Catholic Voluntary Academy learnt how to help save the planet during a day focused on recycling.
The whole of Year 7 took part in a series of workshops led by form tutors and Derbyshire County Council.
A theatre company called We Are Gibber also ran a session which began 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 mobile phone and a plastic bottle.
Eilish Stout-Cairns, from We Are Gibber, said students were surprised by how long it took certain objects to decompose.
She said: “They were shocked when we told them it took 450 years for a plastic bottle to decompose and 1,000 years for a mobile phone. We had a great response from the students and they really took on board the idea of reducing, reusing and recycling.”
Other workshops which took place saw students exploring resources used to make common electrical items to gain a greater understanding of where they come from and what happens when they have finished using them.
A Dragons’ Apprentice sessions saw small groups of students work together to pitch a reused or recycled item to a panel of judges, explaining what the environmental benefits are.
Students were asked to sort through a clean bag of waste that had been fly-tipped to find the culprit and in another workshop they had to make paper bags to sell.
Andy Ritchie, Learning for Life co-ordinator at Saint John Houghton CVA, thanked everyone who was involved in the day.
He said: “It was a fantastic day where students learnt the importance of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle as well as other environmental issues such as climate change. I would personally like to thank We Are Gibber and the staff from Derbyshire County Council for making the day a success.”

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