Our main focus in 2010 has been on developing a Waste Management Policy for Morwell Park & embedding it within our school’s policy framework.

A formal policy was written then presented to & adopted by the staff & school council. (copy was forwarded to CERES).

SAVINGS

One of the main objectives in the policy was to reduce the amount of rubbish ending up as Landfill. Our re-cycling strategies have resulted in a reduction of between 25% & 30%.

In a financial sense, this reduction in rubbish being deposited into the ‘skip’ has resulted in a minimum saving of $62 per fortnight. i.e. our previous ‘skip’ collection was on a weekly basis ($62) regardless of whether the ‘skip’ was full or not. We have now arranged for a fortnightly collection (50%) saving, with the option of decreasing this to a ‘when required’ option, simply by making a phone call to the appropriate authorities. Hence there is scope for even greater savings !!!

COMMUNITY

Clean paper & cardboard is collected by a parent volunteer & taken to a local paper re-cycling plant in Morwell.

Via the school’s newsletter, an order form is made available for parents to fill in & return in order to receive produce from our vegetable garden when harvested. Produce is also used internally by cooking groups.

Through the assistance of the LaTrobe City Council, a representative has assisted in the setting up of a Worm Farm into which appropriate food scraps from the classrooms are placed.

We were lucky enough to receive support from a team of volunteers from ‘Conservation Victoria’ who helped construct a number of new garden beds.

CURRICULUM

The Waste Policy incorporated into the overall school plan, has become an integral part of our planning of Environmentally focused Units of Work.

A garden club has been established as part of our lunch time activity program, with many other students volunteering to become classroom monitors who collect & dispose of our waste.

CONCLUSION

We had considered undertaking the Core Module in 2011, however, with further disruptions to our grounds & classrooms expected in 2011 (BER), we have decided to focus on continuing & expanding the work undertaken with our Waste Module.

We will continue to place the school’s data onto SETS as this has been & will continue to be, an excellent tool with which to present to staff & council in order to gauge the effectiveness of the Sustainability programs & strategies we implement.