The Let's Explore Waste Program includes a full-day excursion to waste facilities and lesson plans mapped to the Australian curriculum. There is a lot of community interest in sustainability, waste and litter, particularly in recent years as people witness huge volumes of waste going to landfill and the threat that litter poses to the natural environment. With catalysts such as the ABC TV program 'War on Waste' and restrictions on recyclables, people at home, at work and at school are looking for ways to reduce their environmental footprint.
Did you know sustainability is now a cross-curriculum priority in the Australian curriculum?
We have partnered with Southern Waste Solutions and Mornington Park Waste Transfer Station to develop a learning opportunity focused on each party's role in Tasmania's waste and resource recovery stream, suitable for integration into Tasmania's education curriculum.
Collectively, this is called the Let's Explore Waste program.
The Lets Explore Waste program aims to:
- Introduce students to concepts of circular economy, waste as a resource and waste reduction as an exciting career field with a diverse range of job opportunities.
- Encourage students to problem solve and think creatively about waste reduction, repurposing, and recycling on a home scale, school scale and large scale.
- Foster curious and creative minds through enquiry-based learning and physical experiences (i.e. rather than through videos or classroom theory).
The Let's Explore Waste Program is available to schools in Southern Tasmania due to our partnership with waste facilities based in these areas. We plan to expand this program to other parts of the state. The program includes a full-day excursion to waste facilities (Mornington Park Waste Transfer Station and Copping landfill site) as well as in-class pre and post excursion lesson plans that are mapped to the Australian curriculum which teachers can work through independently. Transport and excursion content are no cost to the school.
Check out the blog posts on our excursions:
Lindisfarne North Primary School - excursion 1
Thanks to our funding partners.