Fun with sustainability

What a busy few weeks it has been with the Junior Sustainability Group participating in incursions, excursions and our first Christmas crafts day. I have been so impressed with the enthusiasm and commitment of these five young women in Year 7 and Year 8 who have involved themselves in activities that educate and advocate for helping our environment.

In October the Junior Sustainability Group met to prepare an educational lesson and develop sustainability-based activities that the group would deliver to kindergarten students at Millville Children’s Centre. During our first excursion in early November the Trinity students taught about Sustainability, breaking down this very large word for the younger children and explaining in simple terms how we can all engage in activities to help our environment. The kinder students were keen to learn and had some thoughtful ideas of their own about how to care for our environment. There was lots of discussion about environmentally friendly actions that the children already practice at kindergarten and home. There were insightful and entertaining conversations, nature walks around the garden, games and artwork. All involved had a great time and the students of all ages (and teachers) took a lot out of working with each other through this experience. 

Recently we returned to Millville to facilitate more fun activities and assist the kindergarten students to create their own worm farm for the kinder’s garden. Everyone was intrigued and eager to participate in this activity, with the younger ones grouping up to prepare each of the materials needed for a worm farm and then taking it in turns to layer the materials to create the bedding. Finally, bursting with excitement, students spread the worms onto the top layer of the farm. From all reports, the kindergarten students have been great keepers of the worms and have begun adding appropriate food scraps left over from the kitchen.

To wrap up our exciting activities for this year, the Junior Sustainability Group participated in a day of creating Christmas crafts. With some guidance from LSO Gayle and the help of Christmas carols, students repurposed commonly used materials such as plastic water bottles, newspaper, plastic bread tags, twine and wool to make decorations and unique cards and decorations that are recyclable. These efforts encourage us to look a little harder at the materials we have around us that can be repurposed over the Christmas season, helping us to avoid purchasing excess items and assisting to reduce the amount of waste we produce. The Junior Sustainability Group took inspiration from the Christmas decorations made from 100% recycled plastic bottle tops that we will be selling beginning this week. Decorations will be available for purchase at the College Reception and during Homeroom on some occasions, in packs of five for $15 or singularly for $3 per decoration. Proceeds from these sales will go towards Trinity’s efforts of supporting the St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal. The decorations shown below have been made by Ballarat company Zero Plastics, ‘an eco-friendly company that specialises in recycling single-used plastic milk lids into brand new products.

 Zero Plastics Australia – Turning single use plastic waste into new unique and practical items