NEST News

Nossal achieves a second ResourceSmart Schools star!

Rao and Hayden proudly showing off our second star

The staff and students of NEST spent 2016 working on the Waste module of the ResourceSmart Schools Program. We were proud to be awarded our second sustainability star by Sustainability Victoria over the summer holidays for our efforts. Our stars can be seen on the board hanging up near the student drop off/pick up point at the front of school.

The work towards reducing waste within the school has seen our school already reduce it waste to landfill by 40 cubic metres so far! We have also made significant cuts to the cost of waste removal and improved our recycling efforts at the school.

We would also like to take this opportunity to inform our students, families and staff about the recycling boxes which are located in the Phoenix kitchenette, in front of the Science office. Here you can recycle dead batteries, empty beauty products, stationary (including pens and markers), mobile phones and oral care products. We would like this project to influence students to be environmentally conscious and take part in reducing Nossal's carbon footprint.

The new recycling wall located in the kitchenette in the Phoenix area. There is also a larger box to recycle crushable plastics located underneath

We are excited to continue on our journey to make Nossal a more environmentally friendly and sustainable school and are delighted to work on and announce our upcoming projects. We have already commenced 2017 by working on the Biodiversity module and are well on the way to achieving our third star in record time!

Jessica Ball (Sustainability Coordinator) and Jasnpreet Kaur (Year 11 NEST member)

Adopting Dolphins for the NEST

This year on February 17 at Nossal's annual Swimming Carnival, NEST (Nossal Environmental Sustainability Team) decided to bake delicious cookies, using a recipe courtesy of Hudson Smith (Yr10).

The cookies were popular with the teachers and students alike. Another highlight was Jessie's vegan cookies which were surprisingly delicious and equally as tasty as the non-vegan variety. We also had a number of NEST members brew lemon flavoured iced tea, which was very appreciated on the hot summers day. The tea was served in paper cups to enable them to biodegrade, and discounts offered for refills to encourage students to reuse their cups.

The treats were in aide of raising funds for Nossal to adopt dolphins as part of the Dolphin Research Institute in Hastings. We are very pleased to announce that a total of $200 was raised, enough to adopt two dolphins. Thank you to everyone who took part in our "Adopt a dolphin" initiative and helped out on the day and with preparing the cookies and iced tea.

For more information about the Dolphin Research Institute and Adopt a Dolphin program visit: http://www.dolphinresearch.org.au/

Jasnpreet Kaur

Year 11 NEST member