IB Environmental Systems and Society 

Aberfoyle Park High School provides the opportunity for Students in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) to study scientific exploration of environmental systems with the association of cultural, economic, ethical, political, interactions of societies with the environment.

On Thursday 26 May the students conducted an average rubbish bin audit in the main quadrangle with the following results. The greatest volume of rubbish is soft plastic and food packaging, with organic food being the greatest mass, including sandwiches not eaten, as shown in the results below.

The students have developed a range of strategies that the school could implement to better our impacts and becoming more mindful of the land and space.

Ways to Become Caretakers of the Land

• Visual can and bottle wire baskets to ensure accurate disposal and generate funding for initiatives (this could include school house point system) . 
• Modification of WBfL to include 10-15 minutes of waste pick-up.
• Introduce a nude food policy to remove food packaging.
• Implementation of green bins and a school compost area in a community garden.
• Discourage OTR before school as slushies and fast food packaging is a growing issue.
• Future school events such as casual day to raise money for compost bins and environmental agencies.
• Rollout of posters encouraging eco friendliness and better values for the environment.
• More bins to be distributed around the school with the three main waste categories.

I would like to thank the IB Environmental Systems and Society and Hamish Masterman, student teacher at the University of Adelaide, for identifying pollutants around our school and supporting our students to think and act locally with a global problem. Hopefully more can be done as we move towards a more sustainable future.