WSU Recycling
One of the pillars of the Marist Compass is that there are leadership experiences and opportunities for the young women of the College. These allow them to be ‘Marist Women of Action’ who can create change in the world around them: changes that empower the women to be generous and proactive leaders.
At the start of August, Clare Thomas and Charlotte O’Brien started their first initiative for positive change in the College: a recycling program for 10c return containers. Since then, this program has rapidly expanded from four recycling crates on the Flat to recycling crates on all the open areas of the College. Like Lorenz’s “Butterfly Effect”, this first action has caused a cascade of positive impacts.
The first of these was the 1500 containers that have been diverted from landfill in the first six weeks. The response from the student body has been overwhelming as the first four crates were rapidly filled and there were many requests from the students for more crates around the College. It has been pleasing to see how quickly the students have adopted the crates and now use them. A waste audit of the bins by Year 11 science students estimated that there has been a 90% diversion rate since the program started. While many containers were donated at the program’s launch on WSU Environment Day, containers were also collected at the recent Father’s Day BBQ and the Hypatia’s Challenge Invitational Day.
The second of these was the rejuvenation of some of the garden beds around the College. Charlotte and Clare were keen that the money raised be used astutely on projects that benefited the welfare of the students. So far, two planter boxes on La Valla as well as the garden bed that edges the Principal’s Driveway have been raked, weeded, mulched, and replanted by the WSU with hardy but attractive plants such as lavender and rosemary. These beautification and greening works have been well received by the rest of the students, and have led to offers of assistance, queries about joining the WSU, further suggestions for improvements, and even some bags of donated 10c containers.
The third and most curious impact was the general reduction in litter in open areas around the College. Pope Francis called on all Catholics to be “stewards of creation”, and perhaps the new omnipresent crates, combined with the visual impact of the greenery in the garden beds, tacitly prompts the students to properly dispose of their litter and to take care of their environment.
The pictures show Charlotte and Clare just after the completion of their most recent project: the restoration of the garden bed next to the Principal’s Driveway. The garden bed was affected by the 2020 renovation works but has since been restored after the beds were raked, turned over and watered. The WSU funds purchased 30 rosemary and lavender plants which were planted. The bed was then mulched with red wood-chips to reduce weed growth and to help retain moisture levels.
If any students want to find out more about the WSU or join, they are encouraged to speak to Mr Keller or the WSU Captains Clare and Charlotte.
