Waste Prevention at SPC

March 6, 2019

Waste who wants it?

Waste who wants it?- We definitely do not want waste at St Patrick’s College.- Waste not only costs our community money and the aesthetic beauty of our surroundings, it is also one of many things beginning to threaten the life support mechanisms of our planet.-

At St Patrick’s College we want to do something about this problem and this is being led by our student action group SAGERS.- SAGERS stands for Student Action Group Environmentally Resource Smart.- It is a group of approximately 20 students who care about our future.- Any student can join the group and to join simply contact Mr Michael Weadon.

Now, back to waste. If you watched the popular ABC series -‘War on Waste’, – you would be very familiar with this issue and what can be done.- Unfortunately, even though waste costs our community it is convenient for the individual to be wasteful.- Commendably many parents equip their children with re-sealable and re-useable plastic bags but disappointingly, many students simply dump these in the bin after one use, or worse drop them on the ground. If placed in the bin rubbish adds to our waste management problem and ends up being buried in a landfill site where it remains for centuries.- If dumped on the ground waste not only looks messy but also becomes a threat to our wildlife.

Many students at the College come from Primary schools that are doing many great things about rubbish.- Families are used to providing waste free or low waste lunches.- We would encourage you to resume those practices.

What can we do?– Start a process of rethinking about rubbish.- Three words Reduce, Reuse and Recycle are the key.- Already at home most of us are sorting our waste into the two or three bins supplied by our Council.- Please encourage your children at home to do the same.- Here are some tips:

  1. Discuss with your child our community waste problem.Showing you care has a big impact.

  2. Encourage your child to re-use items such as re-sealable plastic bags.

  3. Encourage your child to make his/her own lunch and use a re-useable lunch container.

  4. Try to avoid providing so-called convenient -‘junk’ food that is often wrapped in plastic and is generally high in fat, sugar and salt.

  5. Sit back and watch the ABC series called -‘War on Waste’, with your children.

  6. Get back into those good habits that you helped form in primary school and continue setting a great example at home.

Thank you for your time,

Student Action Group Environmentally Resource Smart (SAGERS)