The Government recently announced that they are issuing a request for proposal for a possible replacement of Tyne's Bay waste management facility.At least one school on the Island is putting in their own effort to manage waste.Following on from last year's very successful trash audit, Saltus Grammar School Upper Primary Department held a second audit last week, under the guidance of Year 5 teacher, Jan Shaw and parent, Dana Spurling. The students and staff have been trying to reduce their trash throughout the year.Last year the school asked the students to separate the waste into five categories: burnables, recyclables, plastic, food waste and compost, then collected all the waste for four days and counted how much they produced.They then displayed the results in a school assembly and initiated a Department wide discussion on waste reduction.This included discussions with the teachers on reducing the amount of printing and photocopying they do and reusing paper that had been printed on for scratch pads and drawings. The students are encouraged to bring a trash-free lunch and they educated parents and students about the importance of reducing trash, reusing containers, reducing the single-serve size drinks and water bottles.This simple audit and the discussion it generated had a significant impact on trash at the school.The two major differences were a change in recess routine which resulted in less plastic Ziploc bags being sent to school to contain fruit snacks. Instead, parents were more willing to send in reusable containers since they were not being left on the field! Therefore we create less plastic waste. The other major change happened because we now have a composter so we are able to compost the fruit peelings after recess and vegetable waste from hot lunch.Last week the Upper Primary Department conducted their second annual audit, comparing the results with last year and found a significant reduction in trash generated. For example burnables was reduced from 12 trash bags to 6 ¼ over four days.The results speak for themselves! We are very pleased with the enthusiasm that everyone has shown in helping to reduce our trash and will now work on how to reduce it still further.The two areas we need to focus on are paper towel wastage in the bathrooms and classrooms and food wastage from hot lunch.Next week, the children and staff will be asked to brainstorm ways to reduce the trash in these two areas.Submitted by Saltus Grammar School