Taking steps towards sustainability

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not! – Dr Seuss

Promoting positive and sustainable environmental change is a key tenant of a St Margaret’s education. Right from Pre-Prep to the secondary years, the school aims to develop students’ awareness and knowledge of sustainability issues and to foster a passion for protecting the environment and taking steps towards a more sustainable future.

In Pre-Prep, students are very engaged with the natural environment through their outdoor classroom experiences and through this are taught the importance of caring for our natural world. The food gardens, compost bins and worm farm support their learning about the nutrient cycle while the recycling program and native beehive assist them to understand the impact of human actions on the environment.

In the primary school, the Sustainability Club, led by the Year 6 Sustainability Leaders, is responsible for the maintenance of Maggies Garden and for driving other sustainability initiatives in the primary school. The students tend to the garden, weeding, composting, watering and planting. The garden has become the source of much classroom learning not just from a sustainability point of view but also bringing alive maths and science concepts for students. On National Tree Day last year, students planted Maggies Garden as well as trees around the school, and before long they were enjoying the fruits of their labour, harvesting the garden for ‘Paddock to Plate’ cooking in the classroom. Through the garden, students are taught about composting and nature’s way of recycling. The girls are encouraged to place their lunch food waste in compost bins while vege scraps are collected from the tuckshop and coffee grounds from M’s Café, which are in turn used on the school garden. There is also a native beehive. Rubbish recycling is also encouraged through the ‘Containers for Change’ initiative with the proceeds put back into sustainability resources. The Prep to Year 6 Sustainability Club and the Year 6

Sustainability Leaders are responsible for the maintenance of Maggies Garden and for driving other sustainability initiatives in the primary school. In Term 4 last year, the students spearheaded a Trash and Treasure Stall, encouraging the primary school community to ‘spring clean’ at home and bring in old toys or household items to be sold at the stall. All proceeds raised will support future sustainability initiatives in the primary school. In the secondary school, the Enviro Committee promotes student-facilitated action. The group of students in Years 10 to 12 aim to provide the school community with an awareness of the significance of their actions and to promote a cleaner, greener and more sustainable lifestyle for all. Over the past two years, the Enviro Committee has worked to reduce St Margaret’s contribution to landfill, through the promotion of sustainable waste practices and by encouraging all St Margaret’s students and staff to bring their own cup at Ms Café. Paper recycling bins have been installed in classrooms and, in Term 4 last year, new recycling bins were installed across the school campus and fitted with posters detailing how to separate rubbish into general waste and the Containers for Change bins. Two students also represented the school in the Lord Mayor’s Young Environmental Leadership Network.

2021 Enviro Committee prefect Paige Bastian said: ‘St Margaret’s focuses on building women of the future, who are equipped and ready to make a difference in our community and the world. Climate change is a pressing world-wide issue, so adopting sustainable practices is another facet of the school’s global outlook.’ The school has attempted to reduce its impact on the environment through sustainable waste practices including: • the use of recyclable water bottles at the school’s Open Day and Open

Morning events • the collection of coffee grounds from

Ms Café and lunch waste to create compost for the school’s gardens • the switch of packaging, cutlery and clear plastic used by the school’s catering team to biodegradable alternatives.

This year, the school has introduced new leadership positions – Environmental Captains – with the vision of further engaging and empowering students to take steps towards sustainability, now and into the future.

Inaugural captain Grace Reilly is passionate about the environment and hopes to inspire students and staff to make a difference.

‘We need to ensure that the needs of future generations are met so we must take steps towards more sustainable living now. If the world keeps going the way it has been, our natural resources will be depleted, and future generations will have to deal with the consequences. We must protect our environment now so we don’t further deplete resources that we cannot renew. Everyone can be involved, and everyone can make a difference,’ Grace said. Grace says she hopes to build on the hard work, dedication and initiative shown by the Enviro Committee so far.

‘Last year, the Year 10 representatives came up with the idea of a clothing drive to address the issue of ‘fast fashion’ which I would really like to assist getting up and running,’ she said. Co-captain Imogen Elliott has big goals for the committee this year, wanting to explore the possibility of introducing green energy to St Margaret’s through solar panels and evaluating e-waste processes. Imogen believes it is important for the school and students to manage environmental issues within the school community. ‘As a school we often forget that our actions also play a role in managing societal environmental issues. However, we also have a role in contributing to the solution, too. Teaching the student body about the climate crisis and the Earth’s current environmental state is vital as it provides opportunities for students to engage in and create solutions to real-world issues. We contribute to the problem and, therefore, we must contribute to the solution. We must understand that we have the influence to control particular issues that arise as a result of our actions and this is exactly what St Margaret’s is doing.’ St Margaret’s is in the process of developing a Sustainability Plan that will acknowledge all the good work already being done and formalise priorities and targets for action to ensure every effort is being made to reduce the school’s ecological footprint.