LocationsREAPing the benefits of creating early awareness of waste management and recovery in schools
August 28, 2024
The 12 schools that participated in the REAP and The Bag that Builds initiatives received plaques that will be installed at their schools' certificates of participation
Apia, Samoa – The REAP, or Recover-Enrich-Appreciate-Prosper education programme, and The Bag that Builds (TBTB) initiative, are two waste management and recovery programmes that were piloted in 12 local schools with funding from the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) Circular Economy for the Recovery of Waste in Samoa Transition Project.
The REAP and the ‘The Bag That Builds’ for Education are CRDC (Center for Regenerative Design & Collaboration) Plastic Waste Recovery Programmes: the REAP empowers teachers to guide students in exploring the past, examine the present and create a positive vision for the future to deliver a tangible solution to the problem of plastic waste for small island states like Samoa, and the TBTB programme is a pilot demonstration of the learning strands provided in the REAP Educational Kit, where students practice to ‘walk the talk’. It is Education in Action.
The pilot has come to an end after three months of implementation, covering about 3,000 students and teachers.
“This has been an amazing programme as it has made me aware of the importance of waste management, and how we need to start in our homes and schools,” said Nicholas Fuimaono of Le Amosa o Savavau Primary School.
“This programme has taught us to take responsibility for our own actions in taking good care of our environment,” said Calvina Tafu of Papauta Girls College.
The Bag that Builds is a program implemented by the Howell Conservation Fund (HCF), a civil society organisation selected by UNDP to work closely with the Samoa Tokelau Association of Recyclers (STAR), to focus on plastic waste recovery in schools. Together, the REAP Education Programme and The Bag that Builds in Education empower youth with the knowledge and skills they need to create a sustainable future, engage in practical problem solving and let them be the change that’s needed, and tackle climate anxiety through real, measurable and impactful positive action.
In July, UNDP hosted and facilitated the REAP Training of Trainers for teachers.
“This programme has taught us that positive action needed to tackle waste management starts with the individual; it starts with me,” said Eterei Simanu, a teacher at Leifiifi College.
“Essentially, the REAP and The Bag That Builds programmes are a cornerstone of a broader commitment to environmental sustainability and circular economy principles. By educating young minds and engaging communities, it aims to foster a generation of environmentally conscious citizens,” said Paolo Dalla Stella, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative.
(l-r) STAR's Patricia Laga'aia, UNDP's Deputy Resident Representative, Paolo Dalla Stella & STAR's Mary Nancy Vito
To put in perspective the effectiveness of these programmes, the TBTB’s target for collection of plastic waste across 20 participating schools is 1,000 kg of plastic waste prevented from going to the landfill or environmental leakage. After just three months of implementation across 12 participating schools, the programme collected a total of 6,631kg of plastic waste (600% more than the target).
“Rolling out The Bag That Builds to 12 schools in three months has been quite surreal. The impact is long lasting and delivers on a promise that more and more young people are becoming conscious of being socially responsible to, and for the environment. Students now appreciate their environment as a duty to protect, conserve and harvest wisely rather just to exist and consume,” said Mary Nancy Vito, President of the Samoa and Tokelau Association of Recyclers (STAR).
The REAP and TBTB programmes have been implemented in close partnership with the Government of Samoa, through the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and the Ministry of Education and Culture, in close collaboration with STAR, with funding from the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which is generously funding UNDP’s work on the circular economy in Samoa’s waste sector.
“It is inspiring to hear the students speak so eloquently, and enthusiastically, about the clean-up work they have undertaken and the reasons why they got involved in these initiatives. When the British High Commission entered a partnership with UNDP on the CERO Waste Transition Programme, the key component for me was the programme working with schools and colleges to ‘CHANGE MINDSETS’,” said Robert Ower, British Deputy High Commissioner.
The schools that took part in this pilot programme are: Saint Marys’ Primary School, Vaiala Beach School, Ah Mu Academy, Marist Primary School, Robert Louis Stevenson Primary School and College, Peace Chapel Christian School, Le Amosa o Savavau Preparatory School, Papauta Girls College, Tanugamanono Primary School, Avele College and Leifiifi College.
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For more information, please contact:
Eirenei Ariu, Policy, Public Diplomacy and Communication Manager, British High Commission Apia | 685-7122160 | E: Eirenei.Ariu@fcdo.gov.uk
Laufālē’ainā Lesā, Communications Analyst, UNDP Multi Country Office, Samoa | Tel. +685 23670 | E: laufaleaina.lesa@undp.org | www.ws.undp.org
