Onwards to sustainability

Term four started with a bang featuring an array of Sustainability Week activities starting day one. Here’s what happened…

 

Frog pond

Dee and Emily (community activity co-ordinators) from the local Bunnings attended North Lake to assist students in creating a frog pond to increase the natural biodiversity and enrich the ecosystem by providing a safe space for naturally occurring frogs in the area. Dee supplied all the required materials – pond liner, polished river stones, water plants, native plants, mulch and safety mesh. She also utilised some features that we already had in the garden bed such as the sculpture and rocks. We discussed the process of selection of location and construction, while Science teacher Matt shared some interesting facts about frogs and water systems. We look forward to welcoming frogs over the coming weeks.

 

Pot a plant

Kirsten, together with Dee’s generous donation from Bunnings, offered students the experience of choosing a flowering plant or herb and potting it in a sustainable terracotta pot. Students enjoyed learning about how to pot the plant, care for and water it. This was the first experience with gardening for some students.

 

Sustainable art

Nadia introduced students to a more sustainable approach to art, using found objects or discarded objects, and repurposing them. The activity included taking mindful moments, disconnecting and finding solitude in repetition and patterning to centre the mind.

 

Recycle right incursion

Jarred from Recycle Right spoke to the students about waste education and recycling. The key focus was on reducing waste before addressing the correct methods for recycling all waste. Students participated in a tabloid of hands-on activities including; sustainable substitutions, sorting recycling, awareness of correct disposal of hazardous waste, reading and interpreting recycling information and others.  Thanks to Liz for organising this activity and to Terri for her co-ordination on the day.

 

Worm farm

Terri very kindly organised for the Worm Man to come and run a hands-on activity and information session about the benefits of residential worm farms. Students were able to create a small take home worm farm out of a 1.25 litre cool drink/water bottle. Students created layers of moist mulched newspaper, soil and recycled green waste, a perfect home for worms. Worms are vital in a healthy garden as they perform many functions to create a healthy soil system.

 

Clothing swap

Armanda and the student councillors organised a wonderful collection of donated clothing and shoes, that would be the envy of any designer shop! Students browsed and helped themselves to clothing and shoes, giving them a new life ensuring that the clothing did not become landfill.  Well done to Armanda and councillors – reducing fast fashion with free fashion!

 

Book swap

Thank you to Tine for creating the free books/book swap in the library.  A big thanks also to staff and students who contributed to this activity.  Again, by sharing and passing on a book, it is spared from landfill.

 

Garden revegetation

Tracey and Judy together with other staff and students also spent some time lovingly attending to the revegetation area at the front of the campus. Removing weeds and attending to these native shrubs.

 

Thanks to Anna who coordinated the week and let us know what was happening.