Recycle, Reuse, Repurpose!

With the return to campus for all students and staff next week, the Students of the World Ecology Group and I wanted to highlight and remind students and staff of the many small ways you can positively contribute to keeping our campus litter free, and to reduce the waste that goes to landfill sites.

I am sure that many households have varying degrees of recycling options, and depending on where you live, your councils may offer different recycling and waste services. At Waverley College we are very conscious of the amount of waste we generate. We are a large College with over 1,500 staff and students. Every one of us can make smart decisions about what items to bring to College, and how to dispose of them correctly.

Hints, Tips and Reminders

• Use reusable water bottles and fill up at the water taps.
• Use reusable containers and remember to take them home each day — these should not be thrown in the bin!
• Use, where possible, biodegradable wrappings such as biodegradable cling wrap or beeswax wraps.
• If using foil to wrap — did you know you can scrunch this up, pop it back in your bag and recycle this with your cans at home?
• Place all paper and cardboard in the correct recycling bin.
• Place all hard plastics in the yellow recycling bins.
• Did you know that six kilograms of food waste was found in just two yellow plastic recycling bins in Term 2? Please do not throw food items into the yellow recycling bins because this contaminates the items, making the whole bin ineligible for recycling. Our Ecology Group is working to increase the number of food waste bins across campus, but for now you can find them near the Senior Canteen and next to the TAS building. 
• “If you can scrunch it, you can save it”  — soft plastics are plastics that can be scrunched in your hand. These include: chip packets, snack wrappers, cling wrap, product packaging and many more. You can pop your empty packets in your bag and on your way home, nip into Coles or Woolies to recycle. Otherwise, start collecting soft plastics at home. Our Ecology group is working to include soft plastic bins around campus in 2022, so watch this space. 

>>> Click here to view REDcycle for more information on what and how to correctly recycle soft plastic.

• If you have any old mobile phones or batteries, remember we have an e-waste recycling bin at the Birrell Street main reception.
• Our Ecology group are hoping with the help and guidance of our canteen staff to make some positive and ecological changes to the packaging of food items in the canteen in 2022. In the meantime, please make sure you dispose of your canteen litter responsibly. 
• Be consciously aware of which bins to place your rubbish in.
• Disposable masks — please place these in the main rubbish bins. To protect our wildlife, please remember to snap the strings so they are loose and no longer in a loop. 

There are many more ways you can take action to make sure you dispose of your rubbish properly, and to minimise the amount that goes to landfill. Disposing of your rubbish carefully helps keep our streets and oceans clean, it also helps to keep Waverley College a clean environment for all of us to enjoy.

Do You Have Other Ideas About How to Improve Waste Management at Waverley?

If you have any additional ideas, please email me at rsutcliffe@waverley.nsw.edu.au or even better, consider joining the Students of the World Ecology Group. 

We only have ONE planet, so let’s all take care of it together.

 

Ms Rebecca Sutcliffe

Geography Teacher and Ecology Coordinator

E: rsutcliffe@waverley.nsw.edu.au