Steps to Sustainability Conference

On the 29th of March I presented at the “Steps to Sustainability” conference at the Melbourne Zoo. I spoke of how many teachers at this school are committed to getting MGC students to make connections between the behaviours they execute, such as, dropping their litter in the school ground, and the effect this eventually has on the Port Phillip Bay.

Here are some photos of MGC students on an excursion in the bay last year. Students looked at what appeared to be a pristine sample of water under the microscope, only to discover that there, amongst the plankton, was a piece of blue nylon microfiber (bottom left corner of monitor screen, see below). This was a powerful learning experience for these students as they began to recognise how pervasive plastics have become in our world and how, as plankton ingest them, they are seeping into the food chain. There’s a good chance that if you’re eating seafood, you’re eating plastic. Check out this video of a plankton eating plastic (only 50 seconds) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGzIz9Ld-sE

With this in mind, we you as parents and guardians, to support us in our goal to become a Zero Waste school by not sending your daughter to school with single use plastics. We’re wasting tax payers’ money to the tune of $13,000 p/a to get rid of it. Our proximity to the river means our responsibility to ensure our waste does not end up in this water way is heightened. We need your help to keep getting this message through as regretfully our efforts and reminders about litter are being continually ignored.

Thank you.

Paula McIntosh.