GREEN-FINGERED students at Archbishop Holgate’s School are learning about the importance of recycling and protecting the environment with the help of compost which effectively started life in their own gardens.
The school was recently gifted ten bags of Yorganics compost for use by the Year 7 and 8 Allotment Club.
The compost is made from the garden waste recycled by people in York and North Yorkshire and is peat-free and nationally accredited to the PAS100 standard – the highest possible quality standard for compost.
At Archbishop Holgate’s the children are using the compost to plant fruits and vegetables such as raspberries, strawberries, potatoes, pumpkins and cauliflowers.
Teacher Helen Clarke, who runs the Allotment Club, said: “I first came across Yorganics when I saw the bags for sale at my local household waste recycling centre and when I picked up a leaflet about the compost at Askham Bryan College, where they also use it.
“I approached Yorganics and they kindly donated ten bags of compost which we have put in the raised beds for growing fruit and vegetables.
“We’re also renovating the pond near the allotment to create a nice, quiet space for the children when the allotment club is running.
“As a geography teacher, I am very keen to get the children to think about how they are using things and the affect this has on the environment and world in general, so we’re pleased to be able to use compost which is recycled and produced locally.”
Yorganics Field Sales Executive Sam Wright said: “We are delighted to have been able to donate our compost to support the school’s allotment club and the wider work they are doing to raise awareness of the need to reduce, reuse and recycle the waste we produce
“Yorganics is the only compost produced from the garden waste of people living in North Yorkshire and City of York, so it’s nice to see the school using something which effectively could have started life in the children and teachers’ own gardens.”