At Happy Days Nursery in Truro, Cornwall, children know where leftover fruit and vegetables go - straight in the compost bin, to eventually end up being used in the vegetable garden.
The composting and the vegetable garden are just two ways in which the nursery is doing its bit to make a difference to the environment and encourage the children to think of recycling as second nature.
'We hope that recycling will become a normal part of life for the children and that they will do it without thinking,' says deputy manager Nicky Smith.
Happy Days is in no way unusual, in fact such is the trend for going green at nursery level that the Government-run Eco-Schools award programme has made changes to its resources, with a new section dedicated to nurseries shortly to be launched.
Eco-Schools is an international awards programme that guides schools through all aspects of sustainability, and helps them to embed ecological principles into everyday school life.
Education programmes manager Andrew Suter says, 'We have seen more and more nurseries express an interest in the Eco-Schools programme. Originally we would tell them to adapt the programme from schools, but we were seeing so many nurseries approach us that we decided we had to relaunch it.
'The new nursery programme is geared towards young children, what they are capable of and what interests them the most. Children understand about litter and waste. They can see it and understand from an early age. Wildlife is always popular, and due to rising costs nurseries are becoming more interested in water and energy and how they can save money. We are also seeing more nurseries with children acting as monitors, turning off electrical equipment when not in use.'
Residential rates
With pressure being put on local authorities to increase recycling rates, the Government is keen for nurseries to join in. This has worked to its advantage at Happy Days. 'Normally we would have to pay business rates for recycling but we explained to the council that we were recycling with the children, so we only have to pay residential rates,' says Ms Smith.
The nursery recycles in every way possible, as Ms Smith explains. 'We recycle glass, bottles, tins and paper. We compost fruit and vegetables, and use this in our own vegetable garden. We use a water butt for rainwater and this is used for gardening. We use a local milkman so the children are aware that we put the bottles out. With supervision even a one-year-old can help with this.'
Every opportunity is taken to teach the children why these things are being done. Ms Smith says, 'We are based in a residential area, and when we are outside we may see rubbish lying about. We talk about why this isn't good. We also go on trips to other gardens and talk about how they look and how people take care of them.'
But parents are not forgotten. 'We encourage parents to bring in things they may be going to throw away such as old washing-up bowls. They thought we were bonkers at first, but then we showed them how we have used them to make a den, or a work of art, and they become more supportive and bring in more.'
At Holy Trees Day nursery in Redditch, parents have been mucking in from the beginning. 'We have been growing our own produce for two years now and set up a working group to get the garden going and an open morning where parents and children could come and help,' says nursery owner Estelle Hackett.
'We have a vegetable patch, herbs and a sensory garden. We grow beans, onions, strawberries, pumpkin, potatoes, sweet potatoes, raspberries, chives, rosemary and thyme. We like to see the children outside, and now that it is set up, they are taken out regularly.
'We also have a jobcentre worker who comes and speaks to the children about gardening. The children plan what seeds to grow, and also help. We encourage them to eat the food and to take it home to share with parents.'
But while neither nursery has noticed a huge difference financially, they agree that it impresses parents.
'Recycling definitely makes the nursery more attractive to parents,' says Ms Smith. 'They like to see the children out in the garden, and we like to think it encourages parents to think about what they do at home.'
Andrew Suter agrees that making an effort to make the nursery greener can have long-term benefits. He says, 'Going green starts children off with the right frame of mind. We have to start young and prepare them for the future and a lifetime where we are all more focused on sustainability.'
He also highlights the educational benefits. 'Teaching children about the environment is an excellent way of bringing subjects to life, particularly if they are struggling. Instead of being told about things, they can experience them for themselves.
'They can plant things and get their hands dirty. The children can engage in making decisions and develop debating skills through discussing the environment.'
Eco-Schools is seeing the impact of the credit crunch, with schools and nurseries now focusing more on ways they can save money.
Andrew says, 'Traditionally water and energy weren't the most popular subjects of the programme, but that is changing and nurseries are finding that they can save at least 10 per cent from making small changes.'
Protecting the environment is fast becoming a normal part of nursery life. As Nicky Smith says, 'Recycling is what we do every day - it's normal.'
CASE STUDY: BALMEDIE PRIMARY SCHOOL
With the nursery at Balmedie primary school in Aberdeenshire in poor condition, and a replacement on the cards, making the new building as environmentally friendly as possible was top of the agenda.
Apart from the concrete base, the nursery was totally made of recycled and recyclable material, much of it sourced locally. It was built from timber, with local stone around the bottom of the building.
Natural paint was used, made from plant extracts, and gutters and rainwater pipework were made from aluminium. The safe outside play area is covered with a material made from recycled tyres, and the underground drainage is made from clay pipes. Inside the carpet is made from recycled material and the kitchen units are timber made.
The roof is made of sedum - a grass like material which makes the roof waterproof and also offsets the nursery's carbon emissions. Instead of polystyrene-type insulation, a greener alternative was sought.
'The building is super-insulated,' says headteacher Ken McGowan. 'Finely shredded newspaper was pumped into the cavities. Heating is a ground source. Cables were laid underground and a heat exchanger heats the water for the nursery. It works effectively like boiling a kettle.'
Self-build or kit
For such an innovative design, things went surprisingly to plan. 'Everything went through planning as it should,' says Mr McGowan. 'However, some design elements, such as the sedum roof, took longer. It involved a bit of sourcing, but overall everything went as planned and it was completed within the expected time.'
Neither were costs significantly greater. 'We had a choice of self-build or one of the kit forms, but there was not much difference in the costs so we went with our own design,' says Mr McGowan. 'Both the school and the local authority are keen to be as green as possible.'
The building has proved very popular, even with the local wildlife, and a family of oystercatchers soon made the sedum roof their home.
'The parents love it, the children love it and everyone in the school thinks it is great. The building we had before was in pretty bad condition and so the children who were at the nursery when it first opened last February really appreciate it,' says Mr McGowan.
But while the nursery is now in full use, the work has not ended, and very shortly the nursery will be producing its own electricity, with estimates showing that it is entirely feasible for a surplus to be made.
'By Easter we hope to have the wind turbine up and running,' says Mr McGowan. 'Planning permission has been granted, and it should more than cover electricity costs for the nursery. The surplus will be offset against the bills.'
This is also an opportunity for the older children to become involved with some real-life maths.
Mr McGowan says, 'We plan to link it up to the school IT suite where pupils will monitor the speed of the wind turbine and how much electricity is produced.'
But of course it is what goes on inside rather than outside of the nursery which matters, and Mr McGowan does feel that the children benefit from having a purpose-built environment.
He says, 'It is a marvellous place for them. Everything is tailor-made with no adaptations necessary.'
Although most of the children are not fully aware of how important it is to recycle as much as possible, the opening of the nursery has meant that by the time they reach primary school they have some understanding of green issues.
It has also encouraged the nursery to recycle, and the children bring in unwanted items from home to be re-used. Plans are underway to start a sensory garden with plants which the children can look after, and to expand the outdoor area.
The nursery is part of a bigger plan to make the school greener. 'We are working towards Eco-School credentials,' says Mr McGowan. 'As a school it has made us more aware of recycling, and we now recycle paper which we never did before.'
One of the obvious questions in the current economic climate is how it affects the budget. Was going green expensive or is it saving the nursery money?
'It is too early to say whether it has benefited us financially,' says Mr McGowan. 'As the costs were not met by the school, this did not affect us. But once the wind turbine is up and running, day-to-day costs of the nursery should be reduced, including the electricity bill.'
But one thing is certain, there are no regrets. As Mr McGowan says, 'If the nursery was pulled down tomorrow, everything could be recycled.'
Further Information: www.eco-schools.org.uk.
