Western Australian schools will share more than $60,000 for projects that reduce waste disposed to landfill.
Environment Minister Stephen Dawson today announced the funding, which will be used on a range of sustainable waste projects at 25 Western Australian primary and high schools – including education materials to encourage waste free lunches, composts, worm farms, recycling bins and a community recycling hub to collect items not recycled via kerbside bins.
The Waste Wise School program is funded by the State Government through the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Account, administered by the Waste Authority. More than 120,000 students attended the 214 accredited Waste Wise Schools across WA in 2019-20.
The program delivers educational resources and provides support to facilitate schools to avoid generating waste and to encourage diverting waste from landfill.
The Minister has also announced a new Waste Wise Schools online professional learning module in Term 4 to introduce teachers to the program and the new Waste Free Lunch Toolkit which is available now on the Waste Authority website.
Applications for the next Waste Wise School grant funding round can be made until Tuesday November 10, 2020.
For more information on the Waste Wise School program or to become accredited, visit https://www.wasteauthority.wa.gov.au
As stated by Environment Minister Stephen Dawson:
“We all know that young people can lead the way in caring for our environment and the Waste Wise Schools program enables them to implement real-world programs at their schools that have real impact.
“The Waste Wise Schools program teaches kids about good waste disposal practices that they can introduce to their own families at home.
“We all have an important role to play in reducing waste and to think about landfill as being the last resort.”
The following is a summary of grants for the latest Waste Wise Schools funding round:
Albany Senior High School, $1,994, for the purchase and set up of a worm farm, bokashi and composting bins to ‘close the loop’ at school and educate staff and students.
Beaconsfield Primary School, $977, to establish worm farms and provide all classrooms with food scrap bins that will be emptied daily for composting and worm farms.
Booragoon Primary School, $2,197, to implement The Recycling Hub that will build awareness and enhance recycling rates for items not collected through kerbside recycling.
Boyanup Primary School, $2,200, to involve students in writing articles and designing posters to re-enthuse the school community about recycling and to provide gardening equipment for students with sensory challenges.
Canning Vale Primary School, $2,081, to create reusable beeswax wrapper for every child in the school to replace cling wrap in lunch boxes and to purchase additional compost bins for each teaching block.
Central Midlands Senior High School, $2,000, to reduce food waste by composting, using a worm farm and keeping chickens as part of a garden-to-plate program.
Churchlands Primary School, $798, to upgrade the existing chicken coop to improve access.
Clifton Hills Primary School, $555, to purchase plastic bins to complement the classroom multi-purpose recycle bins.
Comet Bay Primary School, $1,886, to upgrade the current chicken coop that forms part of the sustainable garden for the school and to purchase new recycling bins for the classrooms that will reduce further waste to landfill.
Davallia Primary School, $2,140, to improve the whole school recycling program by introducing soft plastic recycling with the addition of new bins in eating areas to help students separate waste into food scraps, general waste, recyclable materials and soft plastic plus the purchase of new paper recycling bins for each classroom and a compost bin or worm farm.
Ellenbrook Secondary College, $2,021, to establish a sustainable garden with worms and compost and to produce briquettes from newspapers.
Halls Head Primary School, $1,741, to make beeswax food wraps to promote waste free lunches, introducing reusable silicone pouches and reusable lunch wallets.
Hudson Park Primary School, $2,200, to purchase extra recycling bins, a compost and worm farm, and relocation of garden beds, to close the loop on organic recycling using the worm tonic and compost in a new school community garden.
Immaculate Heart College, $8,596, to introduce a composting system, worm farm and garden area which reduces waste to landfill and involves the whole College community in its operation.
John Curtin College of the Arts, $8,800, to contribute to the purchase of the electronic composter that the College has been trialling over the past two years.
Joseph Banks Secondary College, $2,748, to support a school-wide recycling program for paper, cardboard and co-mingled containers; expand the scale of the current ‘Garden Club’ worm farm and provide some support for Containers for Change implementation in the school.
Kalamunda Primary School, $2,200, to set up two worm farms, which will be used to divert fruit and vegetable waste from landfill. Worm leachate will be used in the school’s vegetable gardens.
Kalgoorlie Primary School, $1,960, to set up fruit and vegetable gardens across the school to support waste minimisation including the use of the school’s own compost on site and garden produce to be used in the school e.g. breakfast club.
Kelmscott Primary School, $1,662, to upgrade the existing plant nursery facility and to increase the organic recycling at school with the purchase of additional worm farms that will help reduce canteen and student food waste to landfill.
Koorda Primary School, $1,153, to implement a school wide, student led recycling and food waste program, which enables students and staff to effectively recycle and use food waste as part of a compost and worm farm system.
Piara Waters Primary School, $2,071, to begin a waste wise reduction project by encouraging waste wise lunch boxes, implementing whole school paper/cardboard recycling, and implementing whole school composting.
Sacred Heart College, $2,150, to expand the two new recycling stations to include organic waste collection. This will create compost for the College gardens, increase the amount of recycling in the College and divert waste from landfill.
Safety Bay Primary School, $2,200, to replace the school’s old worm farms, which are no longer safe to use, with worm farm bins.
St Thomas’ Primary School (Claremont), $1,986, to provide paper recycle bins in every classroom, purchase 2 worm farms, a compost barrel bin and gardening equipment.
Thornlie Primary School, $2,200, to establish two recycling stations across the school, small recycling stations in office spaces and purchase colour coded bins for office spaces.
