Wipe Out Waste is South Australia’s leading schools waste education program engaging thousands of teachers, students and parents embracing pre-school through to secondary levels. WOW is funded by Green Industries SA and delivered by KESAB environmental solutions through a Service Level Agreement.
WOW welcomed Ali Roush (recipient of 2016 WOW award) to the Team as Wendy Sutton took on a new role in the busy Waste Education Team.
Highlights of WOW Activities
- 12 Professional Development sessions saw more than 270 staff from over 100 sites attend WOW events.
- Three movie nights 1) Joinery Adelaide Sustainability Centre, 2) Gowrie Training Centre (celebrating 10 years of WOW), and 3) Mercury Cinema where WOW staff were guest speakers reaching over 160 people.
- Delivered audit results and recommendations at 12 site staff meetings engaging over 300 staff.
- Loaned materials during World Environment Week to Barossa Council for use with schools and libraries.
- Attended the Flinders University Environment Day event.
- Parent information session with a focus on nutrition, packaging and Nude Food held in the Loxton (a great model for engaging families in sustainable choices, and one we hope to replicate in the future).
There were many highlights in WOW’s 10th year, including the National AAEE conference, hosted at Adelaide High School in October 2016 which WOW sponsored, achieving an almost Zero Waste event with a diversion rate of 97% to recycling or composting outlined below.
| AAEE Conference 2016 | L / person / day | Total Litres |
|---|---|---|
| Recyclables stream | 0.36 | 254 |
| Compostables stream | 0.76 | 500 |
| Landfill stream | 0.04 | 25 |
| Total Material Audited | 1.16 | 779 |
| Category – 2016 | Site or Recipient Name |
|---|---|
| Outstanding contribution to University community education. | Ali Roush – Flinders University Student Association |
| Outstanding contribution to High school community education. | Maddi Hegarty – Nuriootpa High School |
| Greatest reduction in materials to landfill for an Early Years site. | Waite Campus Childrens Centre – 45% reduction since changing to reusable nappies and only 22% of average volume! |
| Greatest reduction in materials to landfill for a Primary School site. | Highbury Primary School – another 70% reduction (volume) since March 2015! St Raphael’s Primary School – 70% reduction (volume) since 2006 |
| Greatest reduction in materials to landfill for a High School site. | Glenunga International High School – 38% reduction in volume |
| Contributing the smallest volume of materials per person sent to landfill. | Barmera Primary School (0.05L/person/day) Highbury Primary School (0.05L/person/day) |
| Contributing the VERY smallest volume of materials per person sent to landfill. | Antonio Catholic School (0.049L/person/day) |
Green Industries SA Chief Executive, Vaughan Levitzke PSM and the WOW Team
Ali Roush receives the WOW Award
Wally and the WOW Wizard
Wally and the WOW Wizard performed 36 shows engaging over 100 sites with more than 8 500 attendees, including regional visits in Port Pirie and Mt Gambier.
A story shared by a parent, indicates that preschool audiences can certainly understand the nude food messages included in the performance:
“Their kindergarten aged child came home after seeing the show to explain that she had ‘something serious’ to discuss, which was that she could not take yoghurt tubs to kindy any more [instead changing to reusable containers]. This was a decision she had made after seeing the show, and even more importantly she gently explained to her younger sibling that she was very sorry but they wouldn’t need little Peppa pig yoghurts any more either”.
It was great to hear the message had been conveyed so beautifully and this family were taking on board the changes requested by their four year old!
WOW Program Manager, Jo Hendrikx receives the Council of Educators Association SA Environmental Educator of the Year Award from Minister of Education Hon Susan Close
Other Highlights
- WOW celebrating 10 years with an Early Educators for Sustainability SA movie night (a group that excel at reusing and reducing!).
- Travel to Mongolia where KESAB worked with a local Rotary group and presented Wipe Out Waste to teaching lecturers, teaching students, students, teachers and a Waste Management Conference.
- Supporting The ABC TV series War on Waste which created great interest in reducing waste from schools and the general community.
- WOW supported ABC 891 local radio organising visits to resource recovery sites and schools to interview for BTN (Behind the News) and Social Media stories.
- Working with the DECD Asset Policy and Environmental Resources team to support data collection and resource management at DECD sites.
- Developing a DECD Partnership to conduct up to 60 audits and assist to implement recommendations at selected sites.
The Wipe Out Waste Team at work in the 'Green way' project in Ulaanbaatar Mongolia
Wipe Out Waste news and media activity - Immanuel Primary School