There is also a strong hygiene and environmental theme running through most aspects of the school, from recycling and equipment re-use through to the award winning wildlife garden that the children look after. So when Mary Willatt received complaints about hard, non-absorbent hand towels and inadequate toilet paper she took action. In conjunction with some industry advice, and based on their environmental qualifications, the School switched its washroom and wiping products from the old hard stuff to softer, kinder products from the Katrin range.
Mary said: “With winter approaching, and the threat of Swine Flu ever present, it was time to take action to do everything we could to encourage and maximise hand washing among our susceptible young pupils. I looked for products that would be kind to them and compatible with our environmental ethos; products that would save the environment by having less waste from using less product and hopefully save us money too. Katrin fits the bill perfectly.
Kinder Katrin for new term
Trials on Katrin hand towels, toilet tissue and centre feed paper rolls were run at the start of the new term. Staff and a selection of pupils across the school completed questionnaires to find out whether they preferred the old or new products – and why. White towels were perceived as cleaner and more hygienic than the previous blue ones. Children regarded the previous toilet tissue as flimsy and the Katrin product as ‘soft like cotton wool’. They described the Katrin towels as easy to get out of the dispenser, softer and not as scratchy as the previous brand.
There was a 100% preference for the Katrin hand towels because the previous range absorbed very little and pupils would take several towels - now the children said they found that only one soft Katrin towel was sufficient.
The new softer towels are a win-win situation. The school teaches its children to wash their hands after visiting the toilet, before eating and after arts and craft classes. With the potential for a renewed outbreak of Swine
Flu, teachers have increased their pupils’ focus on personal hygiene. They have hand-cleansing gel on their desks and in all staff and administration rooms and hygiene is regularly featured in school assembly.
Hand washing is now an easier task with more gentle towels. Time spent in the toilets has reduced, as hand drying is now quicker and minimises possible overcrowding at break time.
Mary said: “We expect to save money as we now know we will buy fewer towels with the children taking one towel not three (or more). We have chosen a range of Katrin towels that are slightly smaller and more suitable for children’s hands – giving them adult sized towels is so wasteful. This illustrates that our environmental awareness policy is working because we now create less waste for disposal.”
Since making the switch, All Saints School has experienced a reduction in use of toilet tissue, which is another example of ‘less is more’ and provides real ‘cost in use’ savings over the lower quality, less effective products.
Katrin hand towel and centre feed roll dispensers are now being installed throughout the school in staff and pupil washrooms, classrooms, the first aid room and staff kitchen.
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