Sustainability News
Jade's Class Takes on a Paper-Free Challenge
Friday 26th marked National School Tree Day, and Jade’s Grade 4 class embraced the opportunity to explore the environmental impact of paper. Even though we use 100% recycled paper at FPS, it’s important to remember that paper can only be recycled about four times, meaning there’s always some environmental impact.
Jade rose to the challenge of having a paper-free learning day, creatively avoiding the use of paper without relying solely on screens. Instead, the class utilised mini whiteboards and ventured into our beautiful yard to create nature mandalas.
Congratulations to Jade’s class for their innovative approach! For more interesting facts about paper and its environmental impact, check out the poster in our photocopy rooms.
Eco Club Reflection
This semester in eco club we were celebrating National School Tree Day. National tree day is a day where everybody chips in to help our environment by planting trees and plants. You might be wondering why planting trees is so important, it’s because trees actually help us breath by giving us oxygen! [Bet you didn’t know that!] Did you know that trees hold the soil in place to prevent flooding?
National Tree Day is also about raising awareness for stuff like wasting too much paper [which comes from trees] and things like that. So don’t forget to tell your friends and family about it! Now remember if you want to make our environment better, celebrate national tree day!
~ Zoe, 4B
Celebrating Nude Food
Fairfield Primary School has been doing an outstanding job with nude food. Check out the impressive data from Term 2—thank you, Brendan, for compiling these stats!
Packing nude food can sometimes feel like a daunting task, especially when you’re preparing what seems like the millionth lunch. However, it’s worth it (whenever possible) for a few reasons.
- Reducing plastic waste at school means less litter in the schoolyard. We’ve noticed that small food packets can end up as litter, so even a lunch that is nearly plastic-free makes a significant difference.
- By embracing nude food, we’re not only reducing single-use plastics but also teaching our children to be proactive problem-solvers. We were all brought up mostly in a linear model of waste management where the process is straightforward: you produce, use, and then dispose of items as waste. In contrast, our children's future will be in a circular economy, which will focus on reducing waste and the goal being to keep resources in use for as long as possible or even continually.
- I truly believe that modelling nude food to our children is a great educational tool showing that we do have consumer choice to reduce plastics to a degree. I also believe that being kind to yourself and not aiming for perfection is great modelling too and you will sometimes see me at the shops buying single-use packaging treats for my kids!
Plastic Packaging Reflection!
Did you know that most litter is chip packets? Well, it is but it isn’t the only litter, but it is an awful lot of it…
A lot of litter is chip packets and that is where we can improve.
Take the chips out of the packet and use it for art!
Or you can collect them and use then if you need them.
Or you can make your own chips with a recipe.
That is how you can make the world better and cleaner.
~ By Harriet and Penny, 3D.
~ Amelia Trompf, FPS Sustainability Coordinator & The FPS Student Eco Club