STUDENTS at Mary MacKillop Memorial School have done their part in keeping the community waste free, taking time out of their academic schedule to participate in Clean Up Australia Day.
Wearing gloves and donning plastic bags, students cleaned the school and surrounding areas including Saint Josephs Church and Petticoat Lane.
School principal Nicole Coote said students participated in the nationwide event each year.
“Our student representative council meet and organise when is the best day to do it then they register us as a school,” Ms Coote said.
“They then organise posters and everything else to remind us of what is happening and what it is about.”
Ms Coote said each classroom is allocated an area to focus on in the neighbourhood with students collecting rouge rubbish on the day.
“This year the students were also explaining they would like to collect data of what type of rubbish they collect particularly in our school grounds,” Ms Coote said.
“By doing this it will allow them to think about how they can reduce that type of rubbish.”
Ms Coote said the day aimed to encourage lifelong sustainable habits, including the use of nude packaging for school lunches.
“If students bring nude food to school that is fantastic, but if they are just removing the packaging at home it makes no difference because the packaging is still being used,” she said.
“We are also working towards changing peoples ideas of using packaging and to instead buy things in bulk and reuse containers.”
Ms Coote said students were proactive in responding to the school’s waste minimisation strategies.
“We have asked all students who make a lunch order on the Friday to bring their order to school in a reusable sandwich bag instead of using either a paper bag or plastic bag,” she said.
“We need to look after the earth for the future and I think that children nowadays really understand they are citizens of our world and are tending for the future.
“It is something that is really important to them.
“It has really captivated them about how they can make a difference in our community and they are very aware that even the smallest change can have a big impact on our environment.”
