schools
Schools, here is your chance to contribute to your students’ education in practical, relevant and a hugely important way.
You can join the Plastic Free Sutherland Shire project, it’s not just relevant to students of geography, science and marine studies, it’s relevant to every student who lives or spends time in the environment and who cares about the world they will inherit.
To join Plastic Free Sutherland Shire you can introduce just five sustainable practices to your school canteen and staffrooms.
1.
Remove or replace plastic straws
Believe it or not, plastic straws contribute to a great deal of the plastic pollution on our beaches and in our waterways and harm birds and marine life.
Eliminating plastic straws from the canteen is as easy as removing them from the counter. Most students don’t really need straws for their drinks and, if they do, you can give them a paper one or encourage them to buy a reusable metal straw.
2.
Replace plastic cutlery
It’s easy to eliminate plastic cutlery from your canteen, too.
You can provide sustainable, biodegradable cutlery made of vegetable fibre or bamboo.
3.
No single-use plastic bags or packaging
Is your canteen in the habit of providing students with single-use plastic bags or packaging?
If so, look for alternative ways of packaging food like paper bags and cardboard packaging.
4.
No plastic takeaway containers
Yes, it can be done!
There are alternatives to plastic take-away containers that you can use in your canteen.
You can package take-away meals in biodegradable cardboard boxes or in containers made of sustainable, biodegradable fibres such as sugar cane.
5.
No single-use plastic cups and mugs
You don’t have to look far to see why single-use plastic cups are such a problem for our beaches and waterways. You can help address this by removing them from your canteen and replacing them with more sustainable alternatives.
Make sure you have reusable mugs in the staffroom and encourage staff to take their own mug when they step out for a coffee.
Offer a discount to staff and students for bringing their own cup.