Creative Kids at Geelong Roadshow

What a creative little bunch of students we had working with us at the 'Doing more with less' Geelong workshop! In my wearable art class last Thursday the students came up with some new, exciting and innovative ways to use rubbish. Prior to the workshop I had been collecting newspapers, egg cartons, bottle tops and other recycled goods within my community to turn into art. I had also visited 'The Reverse Art Truck' recycle centre where I found some seriously cool bits and bobs to use. That place is amazing! Little did I know at the time that all these materials would be turned into the most elegant and outrageous of outfits I'd ever seen! There was a super hero costume made, a Genghis Khan outfit, a ball gown and even a bright blue hand bag made from an egg carton. All of the kids also created their very own custom made environmental brooch out of a bottle top at the workshop, which they of course wore around with pride. I especially liked the butterfly design. The students paraded some of their garments at the finale to highlight waste issues. Due to the great success I had with the kids, I am now using this project in one of my university assignments. It's great being able to make the link  with Millennium Kids at my university. 

Manifold Heights Primary School Says

Here are some of our ideas:
We like the parks in our community. We like that Geelong is welcoming. We like that you can hire bikes in Geelong.

We are not a wasteland. We should have a no car day and we should recycle more. We do not like littering and smoking. Instead of gas cars we should have electric cars. We should be able to pick apples from the garden. We should collect water from showers and put it on our gardens. We need to save water.  We should reduce, repair, reuse, recycle and refuse! We need more bins in public places! We need chocolate trees!

Clifton Springs Primary School Says

Here are some of our ideas:
We like being happy. We like friendly people. We like Millennium Kids and TimeZone. We like the shops and food. We like the beach.  We like the clean parks

We don't like:

• the amount of pollution in the atmosphere
• the construction work making pollution near our school 
• too many people using cars
• new and growing trees being cut down
• rubbish as it is hurting mother nature 
• the way we think about recycling
• the power plants and want to change them

We would like to change the rubbish. We need to change the attitude towards the environment. We think their should be no plastic bags. We want some fairies to change things!

Portarlington Primary School Says

Here are some of our ideas:
We like that we are a country town. We are welcoming and we like the Pier. We like that it is quiet and that there is a beach. We have a carnival in summer and a Mussel Festival. We like all the sporting clubs and the shops. We think our town has enthusiasm and we have a good attribute to learning at our school.

We don't like the litter in the ocean and at our school. We don't like air pollution and think we should try to reduce it. We should try not to cut down trees and have more community events. We should work as a team and set up composting and raise money for projects. We need to install  solar panels and fix the old buildings at our school. We need to stop wasting water and put ice cream containers under our taps. We need to celebrate more indigenous history. Sometimes we even have bullying.

Drysdale Primary School Says

Here are some of our ideas:

We like that Drysdale works together and we have a Bokashi bin. It means we can recycle food scraps like apple cores and banana skins etc. We think you should have to pay to go to the tip. Our school would like to set up a plastic recycling bin. Other schools should recycle as well. We don't like how our rubbish ends up in the Drysdale Dell because it could kill sea animals.

North Geelong Secondary College Says

Here are some of our ideas:
We like that our community is friendly and the Pier looks beautiful, except for the rubbish.
We think there should be tougher litter laws and that there is too much litter. We think the fines are too low.
We do not like the rubbish near the Pier, the litter in the streets and that rubbish bins are being kicked over at our school. There is rubbish floating in the sea and the bins are over flowing.

Leopold Primary School Says

Here are some of our ideas.
We like our community because it is safe to walk to school and there are local parks. Leopold is really clean and the rail trail is open to the public. There is lots of open space and it is a family friendly town. You can walk to the supermarket instead of driving and most houses have solar panels. We do not like to waste water. Some of the things we don't like include:

• sometimes rubbish is left behind by the rubbish trucks
• sometimes we find graffiti
• the parks are not always clean
• there should be more parks with the growing community
• lots of people are damaging our gardens and no one is doing anything about it
• too many people are laving their electricity on when they are not even there

What we would like to change:

• needs more education facilities because it is growing fast
• dog owners should pick up their dog poo
• solar panels for Leopold families
• put in different kinds of lights to save electricity
• Leopold PS needs to learn to reuse both sides of the paper
• Leopold PS needs to learn to reuse, recycle and reduce.
• more trees to be planted
• make cars that don't leave pollution
• every time you are not in the room turn your lights off and don't leave your computer changing over night 
• we need to start up our wormfarm again
• we need to recycle plastic bags and plastic containers 

There is no such thing as waste

On Wednesday the 25 of July we had a lot of recyclable rubbish, organic waste and landfill waste. Today we are trying to do better than yesterday. All of the kids were asked if they could bring no rubbish for there morning tea. Also we are going be having CHOCOLATE and the three rules are have fun, eat chocolate and care for environment.

Thrivabubble

We learned a fantastic word today from Andrew the Bubblosopher.  'Thrivabubble'.  Think sustainable, then take it to the next level, and you have sustainabubble.  One more step and you have thrivabubble!  Check out the photo of Catrina doing her chook dance in a bubble!

Geelong Sustainability Students Have Great Ideas

Today Millennium Kids Facilitators worked with student sustainability leaders from East Geelong Primary School and Bellaire Primary School in Geelong, Victoria. The teams took part in leadership games like 'Spaghetti and Marshallows', learned about the MK Triple Bottom Line 'Have fun, eat chocolate and care for the environment', and listed there ideas about waste in the local community:
1. Some bins are overflowing.
2. Bins on the foreshore blow open and rubbish blows out.
3. Our school needs to set up compost bins and wormfarms to reduce food waste going to landfill.
4. We need to recycle paper.

Students heard about the creation of Dr Switch and came up with their own ideas of what they could do to help with local sustainability challenges.

Two Junior Councillors Kleo and Mollie suggested the could send their ideas to the the local Council.

These ideas and lots of others will be presented to the Doing More With Less Sustainability Roadshow on 25th and 26th July at the National Wool Museum. Keep your eye out for new great ideas.

Bella's Brilliant Idea - North Cottesloe Primary School

Bella, a Year 5 student from North Cottesloe Primary School, came up with a brilliant idea as part of the Doing More With Less Project. She designed a see through bin - so people can see their rubbish and not be tempted to put items in the wrong bin. 'We checked out a few bins at Cottesloe and found that people put things in the wrong bin. We found an apple core in the battery bin and paper coffee cups in the plastic bag recycle bin'. Bella's innovative idea will be created and showcased at the Doing More With Less Sustainability Roadshows in Geelong, Mandurah and Rockingham.

What opportunities have you seen to create a change to the way we think about our waste? Let us know your idea and win a camera for your school as part of the Doing More With Less Project. Simply write about your idea in the comment section below and Millennium Kids will present the school with the best idea a camera to help you record your Doing More With Less project ideas and actions.

Would a see through bin help?