EnviroMatters-Spring-Summer-2020_

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3 ways to help your school be more sustainable

1. Ways to reduce waste Challenge students to do a waste audit of school bins. Checkout council’s Classroom Bin Challenge as part of the online Youth Sustainability Summit. Your school may find ways to divert waste from landfill and save money at the same time School garden waste, paper and food scraps can go into a compost or worm farm. Check out council’s composting and worm farm guide at Ipswich.qld.gov.au/enviroed Make your school a recycling hub by linking up with organisations such as Mobile Muster, TerraCycle, Containers for Change, Battery World and Planet Ark 2. Get out in the wild Students can enjoy an outdoor classroom session in one of Ipswich’s conservation estates or local bushland. The Parks Search function at Ipswich.qld.gov.au has permit information Check out QuestaGame or iNaturalist for citizen science projects your school can participate in Organise a National Tree Day planting day and create new micro habitats on school grounds. Council’s free plant program allows schools 100 plants a year. 3. Reduce your resource use Have solar at your school? See solarschools.net for curriculum-aligned lessons to help students understand energy efficiency Schools can check with Education Queensland to see if they will benefit from solar installations as part of the state’s 50 per cent renewable energy target by 2030 Urban Utilities offers lessons, grants and excursion options for Ipswich schools to involve students in the preservation of water for the future.

Looking to embed sustainability in your

classroom or school, and be a powerful force in driving change towards sustainability within your community?

Want more great ideas? Ipswich City Council’s Environmental Education Officer can support your school’s environmental projects and lessons. Email enviroed@ipswich. qld.gov.au or call (07) 3810 6666. Also check out Sustainabilityinschools.edu.au and Sustainableschools.qld.edu.au

Lichen is not a plant – it is actually a symbiotic relationship between organisms such as fungi and algae. You can spot lots of lovely lichen around Hardings Paddock at Flinders – Goolman Conservation Estate. Did you know?

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