Sustainability

Lilydale Heights College presented with 2025 School of the Year Award.

From left to right:   

Ella D., Lily W., Gracie S., Anastasia L., Mrs Shannon Sargeant, Ms Tania Lim and Sustainability Victoria CEO, Mr Matt Genever

Report by Ella D., Anastasia L., Clover S., Grace S. and Lily W.

On June 5th, the Sustainability Team had the amazing opportunity to attend the ResourceSmart School Awards at the MCG, as one of three finalist schools. We ran a stall at the event where we showcased the incredible work that the College has done in the past few years to contribute to conservation, including our bottle cap mural and second-hand clothing exchange. 

The event was packed with many like-minded people and schools, all working towards the common goal of creating a more sustainable future.  Key speaker Costa Georgiadis from Gardening Australia spoke about all the schools and introduced the guest speakers. Everyone participating was passionate about the environment and had done so much to help their communities, so imagine our surprise when we walked away with the ResourceSmart School of the Year award!

This award is well earned, and we could not be more proud of our school’s effort to achieve it. Our Sustainability Team has worked exceedingly hard, from our nesting boxes and beeswax wraps, to our fast fashion initiatives and recycled art murals.  None of this would have been possible without the dedication and perseverance of Mrs Sargeant and Ms Lim, who accompanied us to the award ceremony.  We also want to thank and congratulate all the members of our Sustainability Team, past and present, who were not able to be with us in person on the day, but who also contributed to the amazing work that we have done.  We could not have done this without you.

Throughout the term, we've completed multiple engaging activities, including finishing our successful bottle cap mural project which is now proudly displayed outside the library. One of the big initiatives that we are planning is LHC's Sustainability Week, to be held next term. Over the course of that week, we will run activities that we hope will bring awareness to our school community about how we use energy. We are looking forward to "Rug-Up Day," where instead of using heaters, everyone will wear warm clothes to help conserve energy. We hope that this event, along with others that we have planned for, will assist us in earning our fourth ResourceSmart School Star. 

Overall, we are thrilled to have received the ResourceSmart School Award, which is an amazing recognition of our team’s dedication and efforts. The Sustainability Team looks forward to continuing our initiatives, with many upcoming projects, and we encourage everyone to get involved and lend a hand in helping our school be more sustainable!