SMPS Sustainability

Sustainability

We have a shared vision for our learning environment to be clean, healthy and vibrant. As a whole school community we will do our best to respect the environment and be leaders for a sustainable future.

The first two weeks of the new bin system has given us some insight into our waste production.

Great start! We have seen lots of interest to do the right thing, curiosity from the children about the worm farm and commitment from the teachers in utilising the correct bins.

Organic Waste

We estimate that in this short time we have diverted over 20kgs of organic waste from landfill into our worm farm, located on the Level 1 garden. At this rate we need to increase our capacity to convert organic waste and explore ways to reduce it. This is a great opportunity to come together as a community and address issues such as food waste and what to do with leftovers. Please take time to attend the Lunchbox and Nutrition talk at school this Monday at 9:00am. Also a great resource about action on organic waste: 

The white buckets we are using have been sourced for free from the South Melbourne Market and local cafes. 

Soft Plastics

We have saved about 6 large bags of soft packaging that would have ended up in landfill.  Once a week the soft packaging bags are dropped at the Woolworths South Melbourne collection point. REDcycle collaborates with Woolworths to process these collections to be reused as materials by companies like Replas to produce outdoor furniture. While this is great, it is a small market and the reuse does not keep up with the waste. We need to work on reducing soft plastic packaging in the lunchboxes. We hope to launch a few initiatives this year to tackle this and we will need everyone's support. 

Recycled Goods

At this stage we are recycling items accepted in the comingled recycle bin. In time, we hope to implement special recycling (referred to as Single Stream recycling) Some examples are: take away coffee cups, dental care products, batteries, printer cartridges, phones and so on.

Landfill

We are hoping to see this reducing dramatically with everyone's involvement. 

We will be having discussions over the next week with all the year levels on how we can get really good at separating and managing our waste. Further talks to follow on how to take care of our worm farm and the interesting life of the composting worms.

Sustainability Team

Our Sustainability Leaders from the student body will soon be introduced. They will be working closely with teachers and members of the community to help develop sustainable practices here at the school and beyond.

Thank you to Melissa Bisby who has been helping each week to empty bins including the Visy paper recycling bins which are located on each level of the school. This uncontaminated waste paper is emptied into an 1100 litre waste bin which is collected once a week.

In order to achieve a sustainable vision of our school environment, we would need to grow our team by at least 5 volunteers. Parents passionate about Sustainability with an hour a week or more to dedicate please come talk to Kelly and Adriana at School (see the Office) or fill in this interest form:  

Upcoming Green Events

BENEATH EXHIBITION ART PLAY 

Explore an underwater landscape created from recycled plastic at ArtPlay. Surprising creatures and strange sounds await on the ocean floor. This immersive experience encourages us to consider our relationship to the environment and where our plastic ends up. Free event, no booking required.

June is Environment Awareness Month

Clean-up event June 2nd

Moonee Ponds Creek Clean Up (Inc. Paddle Against Plastic) at Ron Barassi Snr Park, Docklands Drive, Docklands, Vic

World Environment Day June 5th