SUSTAINABILITY

Our goal for our sustainability program at Mentone Primary School is for students to learn that sustainability requires people to interact with the environment in a way that ensures there will be enough resources left for future generations.

Some of the sustainability actions we encourage students to regularly participate in include:

• Conserving energy and our environment through being monitors for lights, power and water usage.
• Encouraging students, grades and families to bring wrapper-free lunches through our "Nude Food" program.
• Taking responsibility for our school grounds by collecting and properly disposing litter through our “buckets and tongs” program.
• Emptying "saved" water from their drinking taps.
• Maintaining and feeding our worm farms.
• Participating in the school’s vegetable gardening program through the planting and cultivating experience.

Thanks to immense efforts from the whole school community, we are an accredited Resource Smart Schools five star, environmentally sustainable school. We have developed several outdoor projects including our ‘Sensory’ and ‘Indigenous’ gardens and we have completed many tasks to achieve accreditation for our ‘Energy, Water and Biodiversity’ modules.

For students wishing to extend their interest in sustainability we also offer leadership opportunities in the following programs:

GREEN TEAM

Senior students are welcome to join our “Green Team” who participate in weekly meetings during lunchtime. During these sessions students assist with recycling, energy monitoring and gardening. The team promotes sustainable practices around the school and enables students to develop personal projects to increase their environmental awareness. Many of our members present at Assemblies, create posters and signs to increase student awareness of issues and sustainable practices.

KIDS TEACHING KIDS:

This is a student-led conference based on the same principles as an adult conference. It is run over two days and one evening at Melbourne University and the Collingwood Children’s Farm. A group of eight students are selected to represent the school and teach hands-on workshops (with a Sustainable theme), to other students from around the country. Last year we taught about the effects of plastic litter on the marine environment of Port Phillip Bay. Then they get to learn from others and participate in an evening performance and outdoor activities at the farm. It requires an incredibly large time commitment from the team to prepare their workshop. However, all students involved fed back that the effort was worth every minute after they have participated.

DOLPHIN RESEARCH INSTITUTE: I SEA, I CARE AMBASSADORS

The 'i sea, i care' Ambassador program is a wonderful opportunity for young leaders to share their passion and interests and be inspired by leaders from the Dolphin Research Institute (DRI) within their own community. These leaders are the ones that care for and understand the importance of protecting Port Phillip Bay and maintaining its health for future generations to enjoy and teach our young leaders to pass on this wealth of information, knowledge and practice.

Over the year the DRI Ambassadors participate in four very different workshops, one per term:

- A snorkelling adventure at Sorrento and Portsea
- Peer Teaching Workshops
- Catchment, Litter and Pollution Workshops
- Marine and National Park Sanctuaries and Coastal Management