Australian Waste Wise Schools Program: Its Past, Present, and Future

Abstract

The Waste Wise Schools program has a longstanding history in Australia. It is an action-based program that encourages schools to move toward zero waste through their curriculum and operating practices. This article provides a review of the program, finding that it has had notable success in reducing schools’ waste through a “reduce, reuse, and recycle” (or “three Rs”) approach. Since the program's conception, an evaluation process has continually occurred alongside the actual program. This report presents the most recent program evaluation results: a 2007 statewide survey that was administered to 1,015 primary (elementary) and secondary teachers. The article outlines the past, present, and future directions of the Waste Wise Schools program and, in doing so, discusses the broader implications for school-based environmental education programs. In particular and of most significance, the findings reveal a growing sustainability culture in Australian schools and communities.

Keywords:

• “reduce, reuse, and recycle”
• school-based environmental education programs
• school-community partnerships
• waste and litter education
• Waste Wise Schools
• whole school engagement

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to acknowledge and thank Emily Kinns, former project officer of the Waste Wise Schools Program at the Gould League, for her comments and feedback in relation to this article. This research project was funded by the Gould League and Sustainability Victoria from 2006–2007. I sincerely thank them for their ongoing support of environmental education research and innovation. I also thank Kate Eastwood, Tiffany Cutter, and Wendy May for their involvement in the project as research assistants.

Notes

1. The Waste Wise Schools program forms one of Sustainability Victoria's environmental education school-based programs. Sustainability Victoria is a Government environment and sustainability department for the state of Victoria. From 1997–2007, the Waste Wise Schools program was delivered by the Gould League with assistance from the Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies (CERES), the Victoria Primary Principals’ Association and the support of regional waste management groups and councils. The program has been evaluated since its conception by various researchers. In 2006, Monash University was engaged to undertake the research in an attempt to offer another perspective.

2. From 2008, the Waste Wise Schools program in Victoria was replaced by the ResourceSmart Schools—Waste Program which has a similar ethos, albeit integrating the Australian Sustainable Schools initiative and the Waste Wise Schools programs.