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Waste Wise Schools

5 min read

First created 9 November 2018
Last reviewed 10 May 2023
Review cycle Two years
Approver Senior Leadership Team
Owner Compliance Administrator
Stakeholders Staff, students, parents
Child Safety National Principles 1-3, 7

Overview #

  1. At Rehoboth Christian College, students are encouraged to live all aspects of their lives to the glory of God. Part of our calling, as human beings, is to honour God’s desire for us to be good stewards of our world and to be responsible custodians of our environment – this includes the way in which waste is managed in our schools.
  2. Australia is witnessing the devastating impact of our society’s wasteful practices on the environment. It is important for our world now and into the future that our young people are taught specific skills about how to minimise their waste. One way we can do this and help our students to become responsible caretakers of God’s world is to teach students how to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
  3. Rehoboth Christian College will provide students with knowledge, skills, and practical, hands-on opportunities to reduce their ecological footprint on our environment.

Purpose and Scope #

  1. The purpose of this policy is to provide the framework through which our students can be taught specific waste minimisation skills, and to help them become responsible caretakers of God’s world. It applies to the whole College community.
  2. The aims of this policy are to:
    1. reduce the amount of waste generated for disposal collection to go to landfill
    2. manage waste as a resource
    3. ensure that all waste removal, treatment, recovery, and reuse is undertaken in a safe and environmentally sound manner, and
    4. contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by reducing, reusing and recycling our waste where possible.

Overview of Policy Strategies #

This policy contains a number of strategies:

  1. Educating and informing the College community about best practice with regard to waste reduction and recycling.
  2. Reducing the amount of biodegradable material to be sent to landfill.
  3. Using recycling stations within each classroom to reduce the amount of paper, soft plastics, and aluminium going into general waste bins.
  4. Using vegetable and fruit scrap bins within each classroom so that these items can be recycled to feed our worm farms and go into the School compost bins.
  5. Maintaining and caring for the vegetable gardens within each school.
  6. Implementing Waste Wise learning programmes as part of either the Geography curriculum, where sustainability is a key term, or the Science curriculum, in particular biology.
  7. Regular reporting of Waste Wise outcomes and achievements to parents and the wider College community.

Policy Strategies: Plan for Implementation #

Educating and Informing the School Community #

We will educate and inform the College community about waste reduction and recycling best practice by:

  1. having one of our Year 6 leadership teams focus on Waste Wise promotion and monitoring programs
  2. discussing initiatives and promoting Waste Wise activities in staff meetings, and
  3. conducting a waste audit annually to track waste reduction within each school and maintain records and data.

Reducing Waste Sent to Landfill #

We will minimise the amount of biodegradable material to be sent to landfill by:

  1. reducing the amount of paper used in each school by recycling and reusing it
  2. reducing landfill waste should lead to financial savings for each school – since landfill bins are costed on the size of bins and the number of bins used, the schools will use smaller bins and/or place less bins in school grounds, and/or have bins collected less frequently by waste service provider
  3. reusing paper wherever possible
  4. reducing the amount of photocopying by staff, and
  5. promoting ‘zero waste lunches’ and rewarding students for bringing less waste to school (e.g. using reusable wrappings and lunchboxes instead of cling wrap).

Recycling Stations in Each Classroom #

We will use recycling stations within each classroom to reduce the amount of paper, soft plastics, and aluminium going into general waster bins by:

  1. purchasing coloured recycling bins to go into each classroom
  2. organising recycling vendors to collect recycling materials
  3. investing in metal recyclers who can collect and pay for aluminium materials (e.g. Aluminium Can Recycling in the City of Gosnells Council area – Planet Ark Recycling Near You), and
  4. investing in options for the recycling of soft plastics (e.g. local supermarkets or Plastic Bag Recycling in the City of Gosnells Council area – Planet Ark Recycling Near You).

Recycling of Food Scraps #

We will use vegetable and fruit scrap bins within each classroom so that these items can be recycled to feed our worm farms and go into the school compost bins:

  1. Maintain worm farms and compost stations.
  2. Food scrap bins to be collected by the student leadership group and the scraps properly prepared for worm farms and compost bins.
  3. Educating students about appropriate food scraps that can go into the compost bins and worm farms.

Care and Maintenance of Vegetable Gardens #

We will ensure vegetable gardens within each school are properly maintained and cared for by:

  1. Regularly watering, weeding, and feeding vegetable gardens.
  2. Providing opportunities for students to take ownership of the care and maintenance of vegetable gardens.

Waste Wise Learning Programs #

We will implement Waste Wise learning programs as part of either the Geography curriculum, where sustainability is a key term, or the Science curriculum, in particular biology, by:

  1. integrating sustainability across learning areas, and
  2. creating a list of responsibilities and learning focus for Kindy to Year 6 students about Waste Wise practices.

Reporting of Waste Wise Outcomes #

We will regularly report on Waste Wise outcomes and achievements to parents and the wider College community by:

  1. providing updates on Waste Wise information and achievements in newsletters and social media posts, and
  2. providing updates on Waste Wise outcomes at Association General Meetings.