Brightwater State School shows us how to recycle right

While you may think you can recycle right, Planet Ark’s National Recycling Week (November 7-13) along with the recycling champions at Brightwater State School may just prove to you there’s always room for improvement.

National Recycling Week provided a great opportunity for residents to learn some simple tips and tricks about how they can reduce waste and recycle better.

“Sunshine Coast residents are great recyclers, with a low contamination rate around 5%, but there are still a number of questions and a lot of confusion in the mix,” Environment Portfolio Councillor Jenny McKay said.

“A new report from Planet Ark, titled So You Think You Can Recycle?, features the Golden Rules of Recycling that tackle the most common recycling conventions to help clear up confusion.

“Residents can find out more about recycling right on the Sunshine Coast, including videos, guides and fact sheets, by visiting council’s website, Planet Ark’s website or letting our up and coming recycling champions from Brightwater State School show you a thing or two.”

Division 6 Councillor Christian Dickson said thanks to council’s Waste 2 Resource STARS Program Brightwater State School students were making great strides towards a cleaner and more sustainable Sunshine Coast.

“As a result of the hard work and dedication of the students, an incredible 33% of the school’s total waste stream is being diverted away from landfill,” Cr Dickson said.

“Brightwater State School was presented with a certificate of achievement today in recognition of their terrific efforts as part of council’s Waste 2 Resource STARS Program.

“In 2013 when the school joined the program they were generating 18 wheelie bins per week of waste to landfill and diverting 10 wheelie bins to recycling.

“The year fours carried out a waste audit in 2014 and found that 52% of their waste was recyclable and 9% compostable; separating and diverting these materials could reduce waste to landfill by 61%.

"Council’s Waste 2 Resource STARS Program provided training and support to the student council who took charge of the roll out of the program, including installation of recycling infrastructure and signage, and training of the whole school community on how to divert materials correctly.

“The school have since increased from 10 to more than 20 wheelie bins (4,832L) of recycling rescued per week (33% of the waste stream).

“You can only feel a sense of pride and excitement when our younger generation shows us how easy it can be to reduce, reuse and recycle.”