Case Study: Rutherglen Public School

Rutherglen Public School, 230 students, has won many awards in Victoria for it's Waste Wise program. The following is just a brief summary of parts of the program. It would be best to contact the school for more details. E-mail: rutherglen.ps@edumail.gov.com.au

The program has the following aspects:

  • Health and Welfare Program integrating the Waste Wise Program with the curriculum. This program can be purchased for $10.00 from the school.

  • Waste minimisation and recycling.

  • Compost/worm farm.

Each classroom has bins for:

  • reusing paper within the class/school
  • recycling paper, plastics, metals
  • food scraps
  • rubbish

 
  • In the corridor outside each classroom is a 240 litre Sulo type bin where the classroom recycle bin (paper, plastic, metal) is emptied. The Sulo bins are emptied by private contractor for recycling.
  • Student monitors empty the classroom rubbish bin into a skip in the school grounds which is collected when full. The system results in a very small amount of rubbish.
  • All students eat lunch in their classrooms for the first 10 minutes of lunch. Monitors take the food scraps bin to the compost/worm farm area. At recess, all students eat in the one area of the playground which has one recycle bin, one food scraps bin and one rubbish bin which are emptied by student monitors. These are the only bins in the school grounds.

 

  • The compost/worm farm is located on an old concrete block from a previous gas tank installation.

 

  • Classroom monitors empty food scrap bins into the large compost/holding bin. This bin is one cubic metre in volume with sides of one metre length. The base is steel mesh covered in hessian. The sides are plastic planks which can be removed so the student worm monitors can easily get the scraps out to feed to the worms. The lid is wire mesh with a hinge along the centre. The worm farm and compost bin are on a watering system to keep them moist.

 

  • The worm farm is on a concrete slab and covered with carpet. It is divided by a removable plank. When the worm castings have built up in one half, the monitors stop putting food there and start putting it in the other half. After a week or two the board is removed and the worms migrate to the new area. The castings from the old area can then be put on the gardens. Photo: Joe Anania playing with worms.
Waterwise garden

  • The whole system has a high profile within the school, there is a culture of recycling. Students expect to be monitors at some stage in their school life.

  • Students and classes are encouraged to bring a minimum of disposable containers and products to school and are rewarded for this. Each week there are two rubbish free days where students and classes with the least or no rubbish are rewarded with jelly snakes and on a third day lunchbox lotto is played. Students with no rubbish in their lunch box have their name in a draw. The winner for each class receives a prize from the local cake store which gives different prizes (9) each week.

  • On Mondays and Fridays, students pick up any rubbish for 5 minutes at the end of lunch while music is played.

  • Other: K-2 study worms; Years 3-4 care for waterwise gardens; Years 5-6 run the worm farm and other recycle type work.

This is only part of the story, the school does a lot more to be environmentally friendly but Joe Anania, the co-ordinator, is a driving force and very important person in getting it to tick.