Environment & Sustainability 

We are delighted that we have been approved as a donation partner for can and bottle recycling. You can deliver your cans and bottles to the school or when you drop them at a recycling centre you can nominate St John's to receive the funds. You’re an important part of CDS Vic and our commitment to make a difference to our communities and to our environment. As an APPROVED partner we making a difference by saving many recyclable products from ending up in landfill.

Members of the CDS Vic network can now search for and donate to our school. Please share our ID and barcode with your family and friends and your network in order for us to begin receiving donations. 

Your Zone ID Barcode:

C2000010541

News from the Chicken Coop

Thank you

Thanks to the Aliahmadi and Ballestrin families for looking after our gorgeous feathered friends over the last couple of weekends. We heard you got lots of eggs, yum!

Volunteers URGENTLY needed for weekend Chicken Duty Roster from 4/5/24

We still need volunteers for ALL weekend chicken duties in term 2. You only need to pop up to visit the chickens once a day to check their water and food. It’s really easy and the kids love it! Duty families get to keep all the yummy eggs they collect over the weekend. An information sheet will be provided with all the details prior to your duty.

If you would like to put your name on the roster please email Mel at mkerwin@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au with your preferred dates. 

Egg Lotto 

Tickets are available to buy at any time, just bring your money into school and the Environment Leaders will help you out. We usually sell tickets in front of the school on Wednesday afternoons from 3:10-3:20pm, selling tickets to students, parents, grandparents and carers.

All the money we make is put back into buying food and other necessities for our chickens. The next Egg Lotto draw will be Monday 6 May. There will be a few dozen eggs available to win so get your winning $1 raffle ticket soon! 

News from the Garden

Each week we sell Egg Lotto tickets and sometimes there is fresh produce from our garden depending on what’s ready to harvest. Our lemons will be ready shortly so keep an eye out as they are always popular and sell very quickly!

There is always our fabulous Worm Juice available to purchase. Worm Juice is the name our students have given to the liquid we collect from the worm farms which is organic liquid fertiliser. It is packed full of nutrients that gives your garden a much needed boost. Your fruit, vegetables and flowers will all appreciate a special treat of St John’s Worm Juice. Just ask Jenny in the office how much her garden loves Worm Juice! Only $2 for 2 Litres, instructions are provided.

Please ask for it if it’s not on display.

Worm Farms

This is where the magic happens to create our organic ‘Worm Juice’. 

On Wednesdays, anyone can join Mel for Worm Club. Each week we feed the worms leftover vegetable scraps, fruit and vegetable peelings, tea leaves/bags and coffee grounds. When there is enough Worm Juice, we collect it and bottle it ready for selling. Once a term we empty the castings (organic matter produced by the worms) onto the wicking beds which is a fabulous organic boost for the gardens.

We have three worm farms at school but we are finding it difficult to source enough food for the worms. 

If you can help out please send in lettuce leaves, mushrooms, carrot & apple peels on Wednesday mornings. No citrus, onion, bread, meat etc, please.

Did you Know…

That the worms in worm farms are not the same as the worms you find in your garden? Our worm farms have Tiger worms in them. They are smaller than earthworms but have larger appetites and are particularly suited to eating food scraps.

Thanks for your support,

The Environment Team