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Schools’ out for the environment
Ecologist Gidja Walker talks to pupils from Rye Primary School during Environment Week at The Briars about making “bug hotels”. Picture: Yanni
ENVIRONMENT Week at The Briars historic property, Mt Martha included activities and half-day programs for students in years 1-6. Schools could choose Engaging with Nature, Indigenous Connection to Country, Homestead Heritage and Sustainable Living with children exploring their two areas of choice. In Engaging with Nature, students took part in weaving and visited the Briars Nature Nook to check for birds, bats and wildlife in the nesting boxes, as well as read interpretative signs. On the wetlands boardwalk they stopped to explore the sounds, plants and animals, and observed and sketched birds with Birdlife Mornington Peninsula. Some got close to emus and wallabies. Local leaders explained Aboriginal culture while the students tasted bush tucker and gained insights into bush craft, language and community. Indigenous man Lionel Lauch shared his knowledge of food and fibre plants and wetlands flora. He led the children through the wetlands, while explaining how the plants are harvested and used for food, medicine and utensils. The Briars Homestead was home to the Balcombe family from 1846-1976 and students saw how life was then and now. They were shown how the family thrived in an isolated colony where “reduce, reuse and recycle” was a fact of life.
Recycling back, but more trouble looms Keith Platt keith@mpnews.com.au RECYCLED material collected by Mornington Peninsula Shire is set to resume being “processed” instead of being taken to landfill. Bans on the shire’s recycling processor SKM were lifted late last month and infrastructure services executive manager Jessica Wingad was late last week hoping to have “an update and timeframe for when our recycling will start to be processed again in the coming days”. “Once our recycling processing resumes, the shire will be able to confirm the total quantity of recyclable material
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sent to landfill as a result of the shutdown,” she said. The recycling processor was unable to take waste from the shire because of dangerous stockpiling in the wake of China’s refusal to take more waste plastic from Australia. However, the announcement of SKM returning to normal services comes at the same time that India has banned waste from Australia. India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia helped reduce the impact of China’s ban by accepting more of Australia’s recyclable rubbish. Further problems in dealing with recyclables are now likely with India’s decision, and Malaysia and Thailand
saying they won’t take plastic waste imports by 2021. These changes by Asian nations puts further pressure on Australian governments to process recyclables onshore. Meanwhile, the mayor David Gill wants peninsula residents to join a campaign to reduce e-waste. The statewide campaign by Sustainability Victoria is aimed at reducing the amount of electronic waste (ewaste) being sent to landfill. From 1 July 2019, all e-waste must be taken to dedicated drop off centres. E-waste - defined as being any item with a plug, battery or cord - is the fastest-growing category of waste worldwide. More than one million
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landfill.” Cr Gill said many e-waste items contain hazardous ingredients such as lead, mercury, phosphor, arsenic, fluids and refrigerants. “If disposed of inappropriately, these materials can leach into groundwater and soil, or release into the air, creating long term contamination issues and human health issues,” he said. Materials such as copper, silver palladium and gold could be recovered. “In fact, 90 per cent of e-waste is recyclable, it just has to be taken to the right place.” For details of the nearest drop off centre for e-waste go to ewaste.vic. gov.au or contact the shire.
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mobile phones and 16 million TVs are discarded in Australia every year. It is estimated that just for televisions and computers, the amount of e-waste generated in Australia will grow from around 138,000 tonnes in 2012-13 to 223,000 tonnes in 2023-24. “With today’s unprecedented pace in technology upgrades, we are unfortunately living in an increasingly disposable age where even large ticket electrical items are discarded with far greater frequency than a generation ago,” Cr Gill said. “This reduced product life span and our tendency to either hoard or throw out these products with the regular rubbish, is having a devastating impact on
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