Welcome back, legends! 

Did you know 60-70% of ‘general waste’ or ‘red lid’ bin rubbish should not be in there? Two years ago, St. Peter’s Catholic Primary School in QLD previously filled up 7 bins a week, but recently, the school has reduced its waste by 80% and has saved the school around $5,000 per year!

Let’s see how they did it & the learning they share...

How did they reduce waste?

Each class has its own recycling and compost bins and the school has separate bins for stationery, skincare, glue sticks, and computers. All packaging from the school canteen is compostable or plastic-free, and once a week they have food day.Food day is when staff encourages students to take home leftover meat to be sent home for family pets. 

But they also have 'Bin Chickens', students who monitor the bins during lunchtime to ensure everyone uses the correct bins. Love that!

What can we learn from this?

Here are some hot tips from St Peter’s Catholic Primary School:

• Learn what can be recycled in your area: check with your local council!
• Rinse out food and drink containers: food and drink residue can contaminate other recyclable materials. 
• Flatten cardboard boxes: This will save space in your recycling bin.
• Remove plastic caps and lids from bottles and jars: these can be recycled separately or collected through organisations like Lids for Kids, or Precious Plastics.
• Don’t recycle contaminated e-waste or chemical materials, such as batteries, paint, and electronics. 
• Reuse everything you can, or reduce at the source before seeking recycling as the solution!

Queensland currently does not have FOGO (food organics garden organics) bin collection systems, while some states do. Not cool! But this hasn’t stopped St Peter’s Catholic Primary School from becoming recycling superstars and making a difference. This school is committed to reducing waste and protecting the environment, and inspiring others to do the same. 

Until next week! For now, we think you’ll love our feel-good Earth news story about Spirulina potentially solving our plastics problem; enjoy! 

Much love, 

GFZ Team xx