1. How did you first get started with environmental education?

• Being a new school (opened in 2006) we wanted the school to have a sustainable culture.
• In 2008 a few teachers approached our principal and asked him if we could apply for the Resource Smart AuSSI Vic funding and become a 5 star sustainable school.
• We then formed a committee of dedicated teachers and students and off we went
• The students and parents have got behind us and we are approaching our goal as a whole school community

2. What have been the biggest highlights of your journey so far?

• Teaching teachers, students, parents and the school community about sustainable practices.
• Building school culture of sustainable practices around the school and at home.
• Seeing our energy, gas and water usage decrease and seeing our beautiful biodiversity around the school grounds.
• Having our parents support our goals, they are always willing to help with working bees, general cleanliness of our school and supporting our rubbish free lunch scheme

3. What has been the biggest obstacle? How did you/are you overcoming it?

• Intially Money – to overcome this we now have a sustainability budget so that I can buy anything I need to help our school become more sustainable.
• Time – was doing lots of the work in my own time (home etc), – to overcome this the school allocated me 1 hour a week for sustainability.
• Getting all teachers on board (old and young) – to overcome this we kept nagging, reminding teachers about becoming more sustainable.

4. What future plans or goals are you excited about?

• Officially becoming a 5 star sustainable school
• Leaving a legacy of sustainability practices around the school
• Continuing our excellent progress in the future
• Most of all giving our students not only a better world to live in, but the knowledge and processes to live responsibly and minimise rubbish at the tip.

5. What advice would you offer to someone wanting to begin a sustainability program at their school or organisation?

• Have a good support team of teachers and students.
• create a healthy sustainability budget.
• Set aside 1 hour a week to for sustainability for admin

CERES Education would like to thank Con (pictured above with sustainability committee member, Kim Schiavella) for sharing his story. You can read more about Roxburgh Rise PS at http://dev.sustainability.ceres.org.au/groups/roxburgh-rise-primary-school/