Cranbourne West Primary School over the last 2 years has been changing dramatically. Before 2009 we had no sustainable initiatives or environmental curriculum planners in place. Well a lot has changed since then! This case study will look at some of the waste initiatives that we have put in place at our school.
Paper recycling
In 2010, each classroom, including the staffroom and office, was given a blue tub to place all scrap paper into. The idea was to encourage students and staff to re-use paper and also to recycle all of the schools paper waste. All the photocopiers in the school had recycling/reuse bins, as well as signage to encourage double-sided photo-coping. Also at this time SITA joined us as a recycling partner with a 3m3 bin.
It was a slow start to get the whole school on board, but slowly the practice was adopted and we are at the point now where it is a part of our everyday practice. Our figures from 2010 to 2011 show that in 2010 we recycled 33 cubic metres of paper and in 2011 we recycled 27 cubic metres of paper as from September. Our waste to landfill has decreased by 37% from 2010 to 2011.
Plastic recycling
In 2011 we have introduced plastic recycling. From the City of Casey we received 3 new recycling bins that were located strategically around the school for the purpose of plastics. We started this initiative in Term 3 and as a result we have recycled 3 Cubic metres of plastic from landfill. Next year we would like to see this grow even more, by getting more recycling bins from our council.
Worm Farms and Composting
In each classroom is a small black tub that s used for food scraps. We also have a Brunch Club at our school that uses a lot of the veggies that we grow in our garden. At the end of each day the Brunch Club have a lot of food scraps that goes directly into our 4 worm farms and 3 compost bays. This year we have collected 11 cubic metres of food scraps that have gone directly into our compost bays and worm farms that inturn gets put back into our wonderful veggie gardens.
At Cranbourne West Primary School the future looks very bright, we have in place many sustainable initiatives and many ideas and plans for the future. The school is all onboard, the students are engaged and our school is reaping the benefits.
