Baulkham Hills North Public School joined 11 other schools across The Hills to eliminate single-use plastic and paper wrappers in school lunches as part of The Hills Shire Council’s Waste Free Lunch Day initiative.
Students were encouraged to take their lunch and snacks to school on Thursday, June 8, in reusable containers, as a way to support this year’s World Environment Day theme – ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’.
“One million tonnes of plastic is sent to landfill every year, with only 13 per cent of this being recycled,” Mayor of The Hills Shire, Dr Peter Gangemi said.
“Plastic pollution is a growing problem, especially when it ends up in the wrong place; it can negatively impact the health of that community and everything that lives there.
“I want to thank our schools for getting behind this wonderful initiative, which aims to reduce our reliance on plastics, especially single-use plastics, such as food wrappers.
“It’s also great to see our younger generation and their families finding environmentally-friendly ways of packing their lunches. I hope it flows into their everyday lives.”
Baulkham Hills North Public School has been strengthening its sustainability focus over the last five years with the help of the school’s Green Team student group.
The school also has a Return and Earn collection cage, composting bins, paper and cardboard recycling, and a co-mingled recycling bin.
“Students are encouraged to separate their waste in the playground using the bins provided,” Sustainability and Green Team Coordinator at Baulkham Hills North Public School, Felicity Johnson said.
“Most students use reusable containers for their fruit break time, and many are already preparing waste-free lunch boxes.
“This week’s event just gave the school a further opportunity to demonstrate the environmental education practices the school has been working hard to develop and to educate the wider community about reducing waste.
