SCIENCE

FUNDRAISING THROUGH THE NEW CONTAINER DEPOSIT SCHEME

On 1 November 2023 Victoria’s container deposit scheme, CDS Vic, commenced. The scheme rewards Victorians with a 10-cent refund for every eligible can, carton and bottle they return. Most aluminium, glass, plastic and liquid paperboard (carton) drink containers between 150 mL and 3 L are eligible. If in doubt just look for the 10c mark on the drink container label.

Here at McKinnon Secondary College we are endeavouring to make positive change by fundraising and recycling at the same time.

We will soon be an official donation partner so that eligible drink containers collected at both campuses can be converted into funds to support sustainability initiatives throughout the college. Our community, family and friends will also be able to help us raise funds by directing their refunds to the college via our donation partner ID (to be provided).

To get some preliminary data about our waste, a 3-day collection of eligible drink containers from the McKinnon Rd campus bins was performed. An audit of this collected waste was undertaken with the help of Year 7 students, Nathan Wen 7J and Dean Wu 7J. 

The pie chart below shows the percentage distribution of waste type found. Clearly, cartons were the biggest contribution to our recyclable waste stream. By brand, ‘Up & Go’ cartons were the most prominent (24.5%), followed by Pepsi Max cans (12.7%) and Lipton Iced Tea plastic bottles (11.8%).

The 3-day collection of eligible drink containers is not only bypassing landfill, but it will kickstart the fundraising effort by contributing $34. We envisage that once students get more actively involved in the recycling process then at least $50 per week could be obtained.

Get ready to make a change, Victoria.

Barry Fleming

Science Teacher