Waste Free Initiative

The Frankton High School Waste Free Initiative is currently taking place with students across the school being encouraged to bring a lunchbox of some description to school, and to take it home with any rubbish they created so it can be recycled appropriately. Examples of appropriate recycling could be taking soft plastics to Coles or Woolworths, composting food scraps, or simply recycling cardboard in a home recycling bin.

Students have the opportunity to win a $100 Coles/Myer voucher each week for the whole of term 3, courtesy of the school’s Eco Team. All they need to do is prove they are taking their waste home, have a photo taken and grab a raffle ticket for the weekly draw.

Why is the school encouraging students to dispose of their waste responsibly at home? 

Quite frankly it is far easier to dispose of waste at home than it is at school. Problems posed for schools include waste becoming contaminated very easily, and council not collecting bins as a result. Soft plastics are exclusively collected by Woolworths and Coles, and it is logistically complicated to collect such vast amounts of plastic at a school level. The easiest solution really is to ask students to take their waste home and dispose of it responsibly.

Anything that goes into a bin out in the Frankston High School yard currently ends up in landfill, contributing greatly to our greenhouse emissions.

It is hoped the Waste Free Initiative will help raise awareness of why the school community needs to become more responsible for its waste. Changing behavior is certainly a difficult thing, but in this case absolutely necessary if we want to role model a better future for students.

Mr Brendan McKinnon

Sustainability Coordinator