Did you know that Australians produce 540kg of household waste per person, each year? That’s more than 10kg for every single person, every single week. In 2015, Whitefriars College saw a need to minimise landfill waste and so introduced recycling bins and awareness campaigns. In 6 years, the College has reduced its landfill amount from 1,419 m3 (2015) to 157 m3 (2022). That is a whopping 1262 m3 waste being diverted from landfill and equivalent to 10,600 wheelie bins/631 skips/57 garbage trucks of rubbish. Not only have we cared for the environment but saved money too.
Last Friday, the College celebrated Clean Up Schools Day. Thank you to Joshua A (Yr12), Environment Captain, Sione G (Yr8) and Damon H (Yr7) who ran a successful campaign and thank you to those students who collected waste from the College yard. There are many ways for Whitefriars families to reduce their waste:
- Refuse (do you really need it?).
- Reduce (consider how much consumption is happening).
- Reuse (can the item be repurposed?).
- Recycle (soft plastics, cans, bottles, paper, batteries, e-waste, light globes, textiles, bread tags – check out Planet Ark Recycle app).
- Compost (green waste can easily be turned into nutrient rich soil via composting or worm farming and reduces greenhouse gas, methane production).
Check out http://www.cleanupschools.org.au for more information.
Jo Menzies
Sustainability Facilitator
