Sustainability
In library this semester Year 6 has been researching and creating sustainable solutions for the school. We were asked to choose a topic that we wanted to research and were put into 17 groups.
One of the groups re-initiated the Waste Free Wednesday idea and played a vital role in making the day happen. They uncovered and re-designed the legendary Golden Lunch Box that was distributed to the winning class for having the most waste-free lunchboxes. Waste Free Wednesday helped start Vegtember in which data from the school was collected to find out who brought the most fruit and vegetables in their lunchboxes.
Another 4 groups decided to research Return and Earn for their projects. They found out that in the Return and Earn program you collect eligible bottles and cans and drop them off at a return point for 10 cents per bottle. Once you’ve done that you can donate the money to a charity or school or receive a cash voucher or electronic payment. Return and Earn booths will be set up by the Return and Earn Year 6 teams at the SHPS fete.
Another group has been studying native bees. They have been designing some new bee hives for the school and are writing up a report about native bees and it will be hanging next to the hive when it is complete. Three more groups had the creative idea of making a recycled goose sculpture. As another part of their project they researched waste statistics. The sculptures are still being engineered.
Two groups are working on mini gardens. The idea is to sell the produce and make a lesson out of it. They have created some plant-inspired ideas for the fete which also use recycled plastic.
At the SHPS fete this year the sustainability stall will be displaying some of the Year 6 projects and selling some of their ideas. All of this we hope will lead to a sustainable school and a cleaner future.
Erin and Ava
Bee box
We built a Beebox to attract native bees to pollinate our plants to help them grow, so our school looks and feels fresh and to be environmentally friendly. We used, bamboo, wood, screws, a saw, paints and a drill. We painted clouds, grass and the sky. We had a lot of fun doing this project.
Nesting box for spotted pardalotes
Spotted pardalotes are small birds that feed on insects called psyllids or lerps. Lerps are small bugs that feed on sap which can cause tree dieback which means that the tree does not have enough sap so it dies. Spotted pardalotes are important because if they become extinct lots of trees will start to die. Pardalotes naturally nest in tunnels that they dig in banks, creeks or other soils so spotted pardalotes are very important to the environment. They also enjoy nesting in wooden boxes if the right shape and size, which we have done here.
Platypus sculpture
The rubbish inside our platypus sculpture symbolises the amount of litter that we waste and the fact that some animals now accidentally consume plastics. We wanted to make people stop and think about how what we do affects our environment.
Terracycle
Summer Hill Public School collects plastic oral care waste as part of the Terracycle recycling scheme. Place your old toothbrushes, empty toothpaste tubes and dental floss containers in our collection box.
Thank you to 3/4PC, for making this fabulous toothpaste tube collection box for our Terracycle donations.
Recyclable plastic numbers
Plastic is categorised using a number system from the easiest to recycle to the hardest to recycle.
● 1 – PETE – Polyethylene Terephthalate. (The easiest of plastics to recycle.)
● 2 – HDPE – High density Polyethylene.
● 3 – PVC – Polyvinyl Chloride.
● 4 – LDPE Low-density Polyethylene.
● 5 – PP – Polypropylene.
● 6 – PS – Polystyrene. (The hardest plastic to recycle)
● 7 – Other
