Sustainability Club
After only being formed in 2022, we have started the year with a bang in the Sustainability Club. Our club has expanded with new staff and students joining after the Clubs and Activities Fair held early in the year. Continuing on from last year, our main goal for 2023 is to combat the waste issue at Box Hill which will begin with the implementation of composting. This is a project very much still in the works, but we hope to soon have 2 large compost bins at the school, and will start the roll out by collecting compost from the canteen and the food tech classrooms. We hope that eventually this will lead to an efficient and effective school-wide composting system.
Sustainability Week
In Week 8 of term 1 we held the first ever Sustainability week at Box Hill and it was a roaring success. There were different activities held every day, and a variety of engagement from students at different year levels.
Regenerating Australia – we held a screening of the short documentary by Damon Gameau which is a hypothetical news cast from December 2029 looking back at the struggles and progress made on the decade that was the 2020s. Students were inspired by the hopefulness instilled in the video, and I would highly recommend giving the film a watch for anyone who is interested. The screening was followed by a short skit from two sustainability club members (Emily Ford and Opal Dettman of year 10) in the form of an interview from the year 2030, looking back over the amazing change at Box Hill since 2023 to make our school more sustainable. This was inspired by the goals of the Sustainability club members for the future of our school.
Upcycled Art Workshop – students became experts at turning old and unwanted t-shirts into reusable shopping bags, lots of which had very funky patterns on them! Hopefully they get some use out of them, and even take their new found skill home to share with their families.
Vegan bake sale – members of the sustainability club spent the previous night slaving away in the kitchen to make a delicious variety of baked goods – brownies, cupcakes, slices, and cookies – to sell to teachers and students during lunchtime. All the treats were made 100% vegan to promote and raise awareness about eating sustainably. A total of $155 was raised which will all go towards implementing our composting plan in the school.
Rubbish Clean Up – a very lovely group of eager young students helped pick up litter from around the school in exchange for chocolate rewards. Together they collected and properly disposed of 10 buckets-full of rubbish!
Earth Hour and Green Day – We wrapped the week up with a Green Day on the Friday to celebrate the end of the first ever Sustainability Week. Staff came decked out in green clothes and students donned green socks, ribbons, scrunchies and badges. We also had some enthusiastic face-painters in the quad at lunch time decorating cheeks with green love hearts and leaves, while listening to the incredibly talented All Round Legends (the year 10 band). Since it was also the official Earth Hour for Schools, during Period 3 nearly all classrooms and offices around the school switched off the lights and unplugged appliances.
Thank you to everyone who participated in any way throughout the week!
By Rebecca Kertes
Year 10 Programs Co-ordinator / Assistant YLC