Waste Wise Schools News

This year WSS celebrated 20 years of schools avoiding and recovering waste, teaching and engaging students and community in long term positive waste behaviours!

Elizabeth Carr AM, Chair of the Waste Authority cut the birthday cake with students from Beeliar PS, Kennedy Baptist College and Mary’s Mount PS. Congratulations to all the amazing schools, teachers, students, and parents who make such a wonderful difference everyday!

Want to make a difference at your school? Check out how to become a WasteSorted School to find out more.

The recipients of the first WasteSorted Schools grants were announced by Environment Minister, Reece Whitby, yesterday!

Congratulations and we look forward to seeing your projects in action.

The next grant round will close 12 pm Tuesday 30 August 2022. Please check out our grants page for more information.

You can view the media statement here.

The 32 schools incude:

Aveley Primary School, Belmay Primary School, Butler Primary School, Carine Senior High School, Carnarvon Christian School, Churchlands Primary School, Cloverdale Primary School, Cooloongup Primary School, Dampier Primary School, Duncraig Primary School, East Maddington Primary School, Eaton Primary School, Helena River Steiner School, Kellerberrin District High School, Kingston Primary School, Mazenod College, Mel Maria Catholic Primary School, Millen Primary School, Mother Teresa Catholic College, Poseidon Primary School, Saint Simon Peter Catholic Primary School, South Bunbury Education Support Centre, South Thornlie Primary School, Spearwood Primary School, St Bernadette's Catholic Primary School, St Elizabeth's Catholic Primary School, St Jude's Catholic Primary School, St Thomas More Catholic Primary School, Takari Primary School, The King's College, Yakamia Primary School, and Yanchep Beach Primary School.

We are super excited to share the new worm farming at school videos!

Thanks so much to Boyare Primary School for hosting and starring in them!

• Introduction to worm farming in schools
• Setting up a fridge worm farm
• Running and maintaining a worm farm
• Troubleshooting.

Can’t make it to a workshop or want to get your school started on their waste journey now?

Learn about the WasteSorted Schools program and complete the first step towards accreditation by completing the Introduction to WasteSorted Schools online professional learning module.

This module takes approximately one hour to complete. It is divided into sections with a short quiz at the end of each section. Participants receive a certificate upon completion that can be used towards professional learning.

Environment Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson today announced the recipients of the latest round of Waste Wise Schools grants, which will be used to fund a range of projects including waste sorting stations, community gardens, and composting and worm farms.

Congratulations to the following schools: Albany Primary School, Bull Creek Primary School, Carey Baptist College (Forrestdale), Chrysalis Montessori School, Manjimup Primary School, Marmion Primary School, Rostrata Primary School, Somerly Primary School, and Spencer Park Primary School.

Waste Wise Schools will be known as WasteSorted Schools from 2022, and is being revamped prior to the next funding round in February 2022.

WasteSorted Schools will make the grants eligibility criteria and application process simpler so that more schools can improve their waste management. All accredited schools are eligible to apply and more information about the new grant process will be provided to schools in Term 4, 2021.

Applications for the new grant round will open on February 1, 2022 and close on March 15, 2022. Keep an eye on our grants page for more information.

Congratulations to Manea Senior College and Mary's Mount Primary School for their inspiring efforts which were recognised by the Environment Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson at the Waste Sorted award ceremony last night, 5 May.

Check out the winners stories here.

WasteSorted School of the Year

Winner: Manea Senior College

Highly Commended: Mary’s Mount Primary School

 

We were also inspired by the many organisations that were recognised for their exemplary work in the field of waste management and education, including the young waste acheivers.

2021 Young Waste Achiever

Winner: Youth Affairs Council – Youth Educating about Waste

Waste Wise Schools would like to congratulate the successful schools from the March 2021 grant round!

The Minister's media announcement and list of successful schools is available here.

The latest round of Waste Wise Schools grants is now open and will close on 27 July 2021 at 12:00 pm.

To submit a Waste Wise School grant please visit the grant information page.

Watch the recent Q&A webinar about setting up a Containers for Change collection at school, presented by Adelaide Kidson from WARRRL at https://youtu.be/mI59iELuVko

Nominations are now being sought for the new-look 2021 WasteSorted Awards.

Formerly known as the Infinity Awards, the 2021 WasteSorted Awards will celebrate Western Australia's waste champions making positive waste change and recognise innovative solutions to reduce waste and improve reuse and recycling.

Open to individuals, business and industry, government, schools, community organisations, not-for-profits and media outlets, the categories for 2021 include:

• Avoid Recover Protect - Community Waste Award
• Avoid Recover Protect - Commercial and Industrial Waste Award
• Avoid Recover Protect - Waste Management Award
• Avoid Recover Protect - WA Regional Waste Award
• 2021 Waste Champion
• 2021 Young Waste Achiever
• Waste Team of the Year
• Waste Innovation of the Year
• Waste Wise School of the Year
• Media Award
• A further two awards - the 2021 WA Waste Award and the 2021 Waste Initiative of the Year - may be awarded at the judge's discretion.

Nominations for the 2021 WasteSorted Awards are now open and will close at 5pm (WST) on Tuesday February, 2 2021. Late entries will not be accepted.

Full details, including criteria and entry forms, can be found on the https://www.wasteauthority.wa.gov.au/about/view/wastesorted-awards

Winners will be announced in May 2021.

Waste Wise Schools 10 steps to getting your WasteSorted

Check out the new guide that will help your school make landfill the last resort in 10 simple steps. It will show you how to assess your school's waste and put in place successful systems that integrate waste avoidance and recovery into all aspects of school life including infrastructure, education, and the whole school and community. The guide is supported by the new online professional learning module and is available now on the Waste Wise Schools website:

• New Waste Wise Schools 10 Steps to getting our Waste Sorted 
• New Waste Wise Schools checklist

Professional learning online

Waste Wise Schools have developed an introductory online learning module for teachers. This means you will be able to complete Step 1 of your accreditation process at any time and will not be limited to a scheduled workshop or webinar. You will receive a certificate of completion for professional learning. Register here

On Wednesday Minister Dawson announced the next Waste Wise Schools grant round that will close at 12 noon Tuesday 10 November 2020.  

Congratulations also to the recent recipients of the Waste Wise Schools grants. Your grant information packages will be coming to you soon.

The Minister's media announcement and list of successful schools is available here.

To submit a Waste Wise School grant please see the grant information page.

The new Green canteen factsheet is now available.

This new factsheet provides some ideas to inspire school canteens to reduce waste and potentially save money as well.

The Waste Wise Schools team is excited to announce the Plastic Free Term 3 competition!

Classes will have a chance to win a beautiful class set of ethically made sandwich wraps or individual prizes.

Plastic Free Term 3 is open to all Waste Wise Schools and promotes our new Waste Free lunch toolkit. This toolkit will be available at the start of Term 3.

This competition is open during Term 3 2020 and closes Friday 25 September. The winners will be announced during the first week of Term 4 on our Facebook page and on the Waste Authority website.

Entering is easy! Simply run a plastic reducing activity in your classroom or school and send in the evidence to the Waste Wise team. 

Evidence can include photos of the activity, videos, or even student work samples.

Submit your evidence to:

wastewise@dwer.wa.gov.au

To ensure the health and safety of our school communities and our staff we have made the decision to postpone all Waste Wise Schools Program workshops and waste audits until further notice.

 

We will continue to support schools and we remain available if you need any support with your Waste Wise projects.

 

With the changes to student learning environments, we will be offering the following in the next two weeks:

• Tuesday 31st March 3:15pm­–4pm, Webinar, Waste Wise Schools advice for school closures and for managing compost, worm farms, and gardens.

           Registration:

           https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Lv8wf33JQRaxXFI5B_es5A (you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.)

           Supporting information is also available here and will be provided on Facebook and our website after the webinar.

• Waste Wise lesson activity ideas for enhanced student learning opportunities from home will be provided next week on Facebook and our website.

For your interest:

• The new Container Deposit Scheme grant

Grants are now available to help community organisations, charities, schools or sporting groups participate in the Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) by establishing donation and refund points.

The application period for community grants has been extended by one week to Friday 3 April 2020. Grants up to $2,000 are available, https://www.dwer.wa.gov.au/cds/information.

 

We would like to thank you for your support and encourage you to follow our Facebook  page where we will be posting lots of ideas to help students continue their waste education.

 

Please don’t hesitate to contact us at wastewise@dwer.wa.gov.au  if you have any queries. We look forward to staying in touch.  Stay safe and well. 

Welcome to the Waste Wise Schools website.

18 schools across Western Australia celebrated this week for achieving 10 years as a Waste Wise accredited school. Read about it here