Washing up is not something you usually associate with a school fete, but St Kilda Primary’s fete was not your average fete.

This year St Kilda P.S. decided to host a Zero Waste Fete.

It was a huge community event with engagement from the Port Phillip EcoCentre, City of Port Phillip Sustainability team, Presentation College Windsor girls who volunteered their time and of course our magnificent school community.

The zero waste message was also communicated far and wide via the school’s fete website: www.stkildaprimaryfete.com.au this allowed everyone to be involved.

A zero waste target meant that consideration of waste was needed well before products were even sourced. Liz Berry, the Fete Sustainability Coordinator, and Fiona Hall, who ran the whole day with such flair and a great walkie-talkie headset, beautifully coordinated all this.

Reuse and recycling were a big focus; with second hand goods on offer as well as many products being made from reused and upcycled objects.

Waste from the day needed to be recyclable or compostable. People were encouraged to bring their own bags and unbleached napkins and paper bags were used. These were able to go straight in the compost bins, managed off site by the EcoCentre.

A dedicated team of washers looked after the mugs from the coffee stall, cups from the snow cone machine, glasses from the bar as well as crockery and cutlery from the Devonshire teas.

Did we achieve zero waste?

Not quite but we were very close! People were mindful of their actions and choices during the event. In the words of Assistant Principal Jo O’Malley, ‘At the end of the day you would not have known that we had had thousands of people through our school’.

Clean up on Monday morning gathered less than a rubbish bin of waste, rather than the usual overflowing bins and scattered litter.

Future events at St Kilda P.S. will definitely be zero waste, for a little extra planning the rewards are enormous.