Project Green

School Environment Day (SED) May 2022 was a success with year 5-6 students from 5 local public schools participating in the new style event. Out at Camp Wombaroo the weather was chilly, and the sun stayed mostly hidden, but that didn’t stop the smiles from the students and volunteers.

We find that being in nature is one of the best ways to enable students to really immerse themselves and learn about sustainability practices. The students gained environmental knowledge across several different areas including natural habitat protection + wildlife identification, correct waste recycling and the benefits of renewable energy.

Our second SED day in November is now open for registrations, to request more information or register your interest please contact council via email: sustainabilityservices@wsc.nsw.gov.au.

Wingecarribee Shire Council now runs the Solar my School program for our area which was designed to help schools get solar panels for their roofs while simultaneously educating the next generation on the importance of renewable energy.

So far we have successfully been able to help Moss Vale High and Berrima Public School in applying for and receiving funding support from the Department of Education and other community grants with installation planned hopefully for the end of 2022.

We are always looking for new schools to get involved to take advantage of the opportunities currently available.

To find out more about how easy it can be, all the benefits and how to get started click here or contact sustainabilityservices@wsc.nsw.gov.au. 

A guide is also available to run waste audits on your own.  For more information on how you can conduct your own Waste Audit click here for the guide.

Wingecarribee Shire Council will be partnering with EnviroMentors for a second year in a row to provide sustainability incursions.

Topics range from composting, lunches unwrapped, to sustainability and keeping waterways clean.
 
For more information on what the EnviroMentors program can do for your classroom click here or contact: sustainabilityservices@wsc.nsw.gov.au.   

Council’s Environmental Officers would relish the opportunity to share our knowledge with your students to hopefully inspire them to live more sustainably and care for nature.

If your classroom is looking for a bit more information on climate change, biodiversity, the water cycle, waste education or other topics please reach out to us via email listed below to talk about how we might be able to help. 

Alternatively, if your school is interested in tours of Council facilities, please contact us via email to find out more information and to organise a date: sustainabilityservices@wsc.nsw.gov.au.

The NSW Government is upgrading school lighting across the state to LED lights as part of their LED Light Upgrade Program (LED LUP). LED lights use less energy and require less maintenance while saving on the power bill.

Head to their website for more information click here.

If you wish to understand your schools eligibility please reach out to your Asset Support Officer (ASO) or email schoolinfrastructure@det.nsw.edu.au.

Has your school or community been impacted by fire and/or floods? Minderoo Foundation work collaboratively with communities to help build resilience projects.

If your School would like to know more about the program and the support provided you can visit minderoo.org or email Margaret Moreton of the Minderoo Foundation at mmoreton@minderoo.org.  

OzHarvest created FEAST (Food Education and Sustainability Training) from the belief that educating children about healthy eating and food waste prevention is crucial to enable positive change. FEAST is a Year 5 and 6 education program that runs for 10 weeks and addresses STEM, English, Health and Physical Education and Sustainability curriculum outcomes. FEAST teaches students about food waste, sustainability and nutrition using hands-on cooking activities in the classroom (no kitchen required).

FEAST education program includes:

• Curriculum-aligned resources
• Kitchen kit and electric fry pans to make cooking in the classroom accessible
• 20 hot and cold recipes
• Teacher training
• Ongoing support from the OzHarvest FEAST team

Throughout the program, students are tasked with exploring and designing their own recipes for their “School Cookbook”, while addressing food waste prevention, healthy eating and inspiring the local community!

More than 500 schools have already delivered the program nationally, inspiring nearly 25000 students and trained 800+ teachers. Don’t let this opportunity go to waste.

Register your school here.

Email feast@ozharvest.org for more information!

Please note that funding is available for eligible primary schools to sign up to the program at no cost. To know if your school is eligible, please fill out the registration form on the FEAST website. 

Remember to pack your reusable shopping bags when you go to the shops as lightweight plastic shopping bags are now a thing of the past in NSW (as of 1 June 2022). 

The state’s ban on the highly littered item is the first in a series of single-use plastic phase-outs that will see a number of other items added to the list.

A second ban from 1 November this year will include single-use plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery, plates, bowls, cotton buds, expanded polystyrene food ware and cups, and rinse-off personal care products containing plastic microbeads.

Single-use plastic items and packaging make up 60% of all litter in NSW. 

These plastic bans will prevent almost 2.7 billion items of plastic litter entering our environment in NSW over the next 20 years.

At Wingecarribee Council we encourage you to use either cloth or tote bags as a great alternative to the now banned lightweight shopping bags. 

For more information click here.

Wingecarribee Shire Council’s Sustainable Us Team has been busy creating a video series based on our monthly sustainability themes. These short videos are an excellent educational piece for students that showcases ways to be more environmentally friendly through the stories of local residents and businesses.

Some key themes explored include reducing food waste, proper recycling, planting environmentally appropriate plants for your garden and improving environmental impacting behaviours.

We have uploaded our videos to YouTube for all to enjoy. Please go to our YouTube page to start watching our video series here.

If you would like more information about the Sustainable Us monthly themes and the events associated please visit us here.

Do you want to know more about your local waterways or need some fun educational activities around the water cycle. Go to WaterNSW educational resources website for more information.