Lisa Starkey – HSIE and Design & Technology Teacher | Co-ordinator of High School Sustainability Programs | Tutor

Getting off to an environmentally friendly start in 2023

As school begins for another year, the scramble is on to get children ready for a year of learning, excursions, sport and after school activities. Planet Ark’s newsletter invites us to consider small changes your family could implement to make a positive impact and contribute to a healthier environment for everyone. Some of their suggestions are below:

1. When shopping for lunch box snacks, check packaging for the Australian Recycling Label (ARL) and choose items with recyclable packaging. You can share what each ARL logo means and what coloured bin it goes in with the kids. There’s a great diagram here explaining how it works, that you can review together.
2. There are many different lunch boxes on the market to choose from. Stainless steel containers offer the advantage of durability, recyclability and reduced weight compared to glass. However, the best lunch boxes are those you already have in the cupboard that can be used again and again. Small clean jars and bread bags emptied of crumbs, can be reused as separators, containers and food wrapping.

School uniforms

1. Before buying new uniforms don’t forget to check in with friends with older children to see if they have outgrown their own items. 
2. Many uniforms can last longer with simple maintenance. When children are old enough, involve them in the process and teach them basic sewing techniques like how to sew a button back on. Mending can help children value the work that goes into making clothing and encourages them to take better care of their belongings. Best of all, they will have learnt a helpful life skill!
3. When clothing, underwear and shoes finally reach their end-of-life, check Recycling Near You for companies in your area to help keep items out of landfill. There are a number of recycling options for old uniforms and shoes available.

Pencil cases and books

1. Encourage your learners to check that their pencil cases haven’t been depleted from holiday art sessions. A scavenger hunt around the house to locate missing rulers, sharpeners and pencils will help stop the purchase of double-ups.
2. When you need to buy new supplies, choose products made with recycled materials and recyclable packaging.  Your consumer dollar has enormous power to reduce interest in products made from virgin materials and create a viable market for those using recycled materials. 

Travelling to school

1. Find a safe low carbon emitting way to reach school. Could you walk, ride a bike or catch public transport to school? Or connect with parents living near you to organise a carpool and share lifts.

Over the last few years we’ve all seen the devastating impact extreme weather events, particularly flooding, can have. While sometimes it may seem as if these events are completely out of our control, there are small actions we can all take to make a positive difference. Adjusting our habits now to find ways to reduce, reuse and recycle will help make better use of precious resources and start the new school year in a greener way.

Additional Emanuel tips

1. Send your children to school with as little (or no) packaging as possible. Please remind them to put all their food waste into the Emanuel School FOGO bins.
   To be even more economical and reduce single-use plastic waste, choose larger packets of healthy snacks instead of the individually wrapped snack packs. These can be transferred into re-useable snack containers for school.
2. BYO clearly labelled refillable water bottle to school.
3. Remember to clearly label everything!
4. Remember: there is an opportunity to use the Re-Collect App to have your recyclable bottles and cans collected at your convenience. The proceeds of this are donated to Our Big Kitchen (OBK). Emanuel has saved an impressive 800 cans/bottles from landfill and the money raised will benefit OBK.  Please email Lisa Starkey if you would like simple instructions on how to book a collection.
5. The Emanuel Uniform Shuk Facebook group is a great place to find second hand items and Mr Ezekiel often has unlabelled lost property which students may access.