Schools

If you are from a school in the Waverley area, you can access resources and guidance to become more sustainable through our Sustainable Schools Program. Here's how we can assist you:

Sharing ideas and networking - Eastern Suburbs Sustainable Schools Network (ESSSN)Bronte Public School Green Teram
Free water assessment and water efficiency products
Native seedlings
Free compost bins and worm farms
Free recycling
Waste and recycling audit
Recycling Challenge and talk
School Environmental Management Plans
Grants
Further support and advice

 

Sharing ideas and networking - Eastern Suburbs Sustainable Schools Network (ESSSN)

The ESSSN involves teachers, parents and students from schools in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs interested in sustainability and environmental education.

It aims to facilitate the exchange of ideas, knowledge and resources. ESSSN meets once a term and Waverley Council helps organise meetings, agendas and guest speakers.

Want to get involved? Read more on ESSSN.

 

Free water assessment and water efficiency products

Find out where your water is used on your school grounds with a free water audit from Council. You will also get advice and products to help reduce water consumption. By applying simple solutions you cut your school’s water use by anywhere between 15% and 50%!

Find out more - email our Business Educator.

 

Native seedlings

Native seedlings are available to each school as part of National Tree Day on July 26. Requests must be made by the end of June to ensure supply of seedlings. We can also offer advice on the best native plants for your school.

Email our Schools Environment Officer or call 9369 8049.

 

Free compost bins and worm farms

Why not start recycling organic food waste from crunch and sip, lunch boxes and your canteen. Up to two free compost bins and worm farms are available through the Reduce Your Footprint. Simply do the tutorial and then request to have the bins delivered to your school.

If you are interested in larger scale composting, please email our Compost Revolution Coordinator or call 9369 8112.

 

Free Recycling

Don’t yet have rubbish recycling at your school? We offer free recycling collection services to schools that have Council as their waste contractor.

Before schools start recycling, it’s important to determine how you can avoid creating waste in the first place. Council can discuss the waste hierarchy – ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ – with you and the kids and how to apply this in a school context.

Recycling at schools can work well, but requires planning and ensuring that it is supported by the right behavior and attitudes before schools are provided with recycling bins. We can help students organise a waste audit and create an education plan to get the whole school involved with the right ways to recycle. Without this, recycling can fail to work due to high levels of contamination in recycling bins.

Contact our Commercial Waste Manager by email or call 8306 3667 to discuss your service needs.

For you recycling education needs, email our Schools Environment Officer or call 9369 8049.

 

Waste and recycling audit

Want to introduce recycling or revamp an existing recycling system? A waste audit is a great way to start. It helps to work out the types and amount of waste your school is producing.

If you’ve never done a waste and recycling audit before, we can visit and show you and your students how to assess your playground waste and recycling bins and identify areas for improvement.

Email our Schools Environment Officer or call 9369 8049.

 

Recycling Challenge and talk

We will visit your school and challenge the kids’ (and teachers’) knowledge on recycling and waste with a fun and interactive activity. We can also give a brief talk about why we recycle and ways to reduce waste at school. We can do this with a waste audit program or as a stand alone activity.

Email our Schools Environment Officer or call 9369 8049.

 

School Environmental Management Plans

School Environment Management Plans (SEMPs) are an excellent way of documenting a school’s vision to become sustainable and planning how to get there. They are mandatory for state schools and encouraged for private schools.

The first step is to conduct an environmental audit. This will identify the school’s major environmental impacts and outline areas of significant improvements could be made. The resources to undertake a school audit and develop a SEMP are available from the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage Sustainable Schools website.

We also offer on-the-ground support and assistance if you need it. For more information, email Schools Environment Officer or call 9369 8049.

 

Grants

Have a great project idea for your school but limited budget? There are various ways to secure funding for your school’s initiatives. The  Sustainable Schools website hasan easy-to-use list of all grant programs on offer.

We also have small grants for schools and community groups. There are 2 rounds per year, closing every February and August. Check out the Small Grants Program guidelines on how to apply.

Previous Council grants projects:

Bondi Public School for introducing water-saving irrigation for their garden from their rainwater tanks, and extending their garden.

Waverley Public School for establishing a fruit and vegetable garden.

Moriah College Middle School for establishing a vegetable garden to be used in language lessons and other parts of their curriculum.

Montessori East for their “Eco-refuge”, transforming their synthetic grass playground into a natural area with edible gardens.

 

Further support and advice

If have an environmental idea or issue to share about your school, we are happy to provide advice, information and support wherever we can.

Email our Schools Environment Officer or call 9369 8049.

 

Links

Civic Pride - Find out what's happening in the community and how to get involved.

Bushcare - Learn how the community is caring for our bush and how to get involved.

Sustainable Schools- A hub of resources and management tools for your school.

Vissy Environmaniacs- Online recycling games, lessons and activities

AuSSI - The Australian government's sustainable school site.

 

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