Eco-Wastebusters Team in Action at Rockingham Beach Primary School

Warming-Waste-Water-Watts-Wildlife (W5) collaborative project of Alcoa Foundation and Eco-Schools bore new fruits in Australia as students formed an action team to combat waste at their school and spread the message across the community.

Students wanting to make a difference were selected from classes and formed a 12-member Eco-Action Team. These 12 students, ages 7 to 13, met on a weekly basis over the school term and worked together on gathering information, identifying issues and developing an action plan to solve them. As a result, a two-legged project for improving waste management was created. Students decided to assemble a composting station and they built a worm farm out of an old refrigerator as a way to reuse their unwanted waste.

“We learn by doing and exploring. This has been so much fun!”

— - Ryan, Student at Rockingham Beach Primary School

Ryan and other students first mind-mapped how they would build the composting station, what items they would need and then identified and allocated tasks. With help of parents and teachers, they constructed the station on a cement foundation and transformed an old fridge into a worm station so they can later use the worm waste to fertilize the trees and use the worm castings for new seedings.

“They constantly say they have loved making a difference and they wish the Eco Wastebuster Action Team could work all day.”

— Georgia Mills-Poilly, Teacher at Rockingham Beach Primary School

The students did not stop at simply constructing the station, but they continue to meet and discuss the impact of their project and they keep maintaining it. The impact and reach of this project go beyond the Eco-Action Team as they share their knowledge and ideas with the Garden Club, also active at the Rockingham Beach Primary School, and together they educate others on how to make a difference at home by recycling and reusing food and garden scraps.

The students have even created an acrostic poem, titled Wastebusters, for their Eco Code and will be sharing it at their assembly item and through posters hanging around the school.

Educating a Future Generation of Stewards

Author: Elizabeth Soper - Text adapted from National Wildlife Federation

Educators Explore Sustainability through the Alcoa Warming-Waste-Water-Watts and Wildlife Program

To succeed as global citizens and future stewards of our planet, children and young adults should be well-versed in the underlying principles of nature and wildlife. Through educational partnerships focused on conservation and environmental knowledge, the National Wildlife Federation engages educators on ways to increase environmental literacy, stewardship, and problem-solving skills in classrooms and curricula across the country. From endangered sea turtles suffering from ocean pollution to shrinking snowy habitat for lynx, wildlife depends on well-informed, young people to address our world’s pressing conservation issues.

New Skills for Educators

What does lunch waste and compost have in common? How can students explore the difference between facts and opinions when learning about climate change? And how can students use technology such as apps like iNaturalist Seek to identify plant and wildlife observations? All of these topics and more were investigated by educators as part of the Alcoa Warming-Waste-Water-Watts and Wildlife (Alcoa W5) program in Newburgh, IN and Massena, NY.  The Alcoa W5 is a collaborative program between the Alcoa Foundation, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE). This program, now in its third year, uses the globally acclaimed Eco-Schools programe as a framework to guide the schools as they explore sustainability at their schools and in their communities. This year the program is being implemented in three locations in the United States, Norway and Australia. 

Project-Based Learning in Indiana

A key part of the program is to provide educators with the knowledge, tools and resources they need to implement this program in their schools.  In September, educators from four schools in Newburgh, Indiana came together to collaborate and review best education practices for student sustainability projects. 

Educators from Tecumseh High, Castle Elementary, Boonville High and Castle North Middle School participated for the first time. Castle North Middle School, a returning participant to the program, shared an inside look for the new participants regarding their newly developed schoolyard habitat and community events.

Project-based learning activities and how to engage students across disciplines were of particular interest to educators. Using the trash remaining from breakfast, teachers sorted through recycling, compost and trash to complete a waste and consumption environmental audit, The Cool School Challenge was introduced to teachers, after going through an exercise of noticing “energy vampires” in the room. Energy vampires are electronic devices like computers, monitors, printers, SMART boards and televisions, whose carbon dioxide emissions can be tracked through the classroom carbon calculator. Other ways tools and technology aides were implemented were by documenting biodiversity, or the variety of animal and plant species in a particular habitat, through the app, iNaturalist Seek. This app uses image recognition technology to identify plant and animal species. In addition, teachers downloaded the app, Adobe Spark, to discuss how digital storytelling can play a part in how their student sustainability projects are shared with their schools and communities.

Inside & Outside Learning in Upstate New York

In October, educators from four schools in Massena, NY came together to spend time learning how to expand and enhance their Alcoa W5 program work. Madison, Nightengale and Jefferson Elementary Schools are returning for their third year of participation. This year educators will focus on the issues of climate change, consumption and waste, and schoolyard habitats.  Massena High School is new to the program this year and is working to develop a compost program to support an existing indoor garden classroom and to explore the biodiversity of their school grounds. All four schools will work together to plan and implement a community-based project with the support of Alcoa volunteers.  Currently, they are exploring the concept of a student-led project to develop a much-needed community garden in Massena, NY.

During the teacher professional development, time was spent exploring NWF’s Climate Classroom website and engaging in activities associated with the Years of Living Dangerously videos.  Educators had the opportunity to play the role of their students as they explored the complex topic of climate change learning to distinguish between facts and opinions, determine credible sources, and how to analyze and interpret data. They created food system maps, examined compost for decomposers and conducted a lunch waste audit to address the issue of consumption and waste. 

“We look forward to supporting the schools as they move through the exploration of sustainability at their schools.  The program melds well with what we are trying to achieve as well at the Alcoa USA facility here in Massena. As environmental engineers, both Didi and I understand the importance in helping students to better understand the science and the social aspects of sustainability.  We want them to know that there are both education and career opportunities right here in their region if they wanted to explore them further.

Nathan Rufa, Environmental, Health and Safety Manager, Alcoa USA Corporation and program volunteer.

For more information about the NWF Alcoa W5 Eco-Schools USA programme, please contact Elizabeth Soper, NWF Director of K-16 Education at soper@nwf.org.

Alcoa W5 Programme Helps Students to Reduce Food Waste on Wednesdays!

Author: Xiaowen Zhang, Foundation for Environmental Education

Story shared by Casey Ware, Medina Primary School

Everyone knows Meatless Mondays, an international initiative promoting healthy eating habits, but how about Waste Wise Wednesdays?

In Australia, as part of the Alcoa Eco-Schools Warming, Waste, Watts, Water and Wildlife (W5) Project – funded by Alcoa Foundation –  the entire Medina Primary School is involved in Waste Wise Wednesdays, where students are encouraged to bring waste-wise lunches. This action has highlighted the importance of achieving waste reduction by taking daily actions in the school context.

Two hundred students from Kindergarten to Year Six participate in the initiative. Their parents are working closely with the school, to ensure that the lunchbox that they prepare is not only free of disposable plastic materials but also that their children get proper portions and are able to finish their meal without wasting food. Students are then handed certificates and "CARE" slips individually by their classroom teachers. This reward has encouraged more commitments to waste-wise actions every day and leaves positive long-term life impacts.

"It is amazing to see students’ lunchboxes changing. Parents are adding some more variety and even involving their children in making their lunchbox.”

Jessica Parsons, Year 1-2 teacher.

Students learn about the impact of waste at school by linking to several projects in the town of Kwinana. Waste Wise Wednesdays is an important initiative that aims to help build a better understanding of waste management among the community and create a collective movement towards sustainable development.

Waikiki Primary School: Community engagement in waste reduction

The Community Action Day taking place at Waikiki Primary School was an opportunity for students, teachers and parents to come together and organise around waste reduction.

In our eyes, our action day was a great success.

Students prepared presentations on solar energy, recycling and waste management, exhibitions on recycled arts and crafts, and organised guided tours for the teachers and parents of the compost area and vegetable garden.

They organised games and quizzes about composting and decomposition, and engaged all participants in a learning process with lessons to take home!

Farsund Secondary School: The Ocean Monster Project

About a year ago a dead whale with its stomach full of 30 plastic bags was found at the western shore of Norway.

As a response to this, the then Norwegian Minister of Climate and Environment, Vidar Helgesen claimed:

 the real ocean monster is plastic

Farsund Ungdomskole, with pupils from 12 to 15 years old, made it their goal is to protect other species in the ocean and elsewhere from further damage caused by human activities. As they argue, if humans continue with their current consumption and emissions, by 2015 there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean. Along with Alcoa W5 they collaborate with several local political actors and stakeholders to clean local beaches and shores from plastic waste.

Through the local newspaper, the pupils called for Farsund county to introduce recycling systems in all communal buildings. The Mayor, Arnt Abrahamsen, has acknowledged that the Ocean Monster Project communicates an important environmental message on behalf of the municipality, and he will raise the issue further in his political activities. The mayor promised the pupils at Farsund Ungdomsskole to provide everyone in the municipality with a tote-bag that they can use as a replacement for single-use plastic bags when they go shopping, and to make Farsund the most sustainable municipality in Norway.

Kulstad Primary School, Mosjøen: Positive Action for Sustainable Development

Proud to be the first school in their county ever to be certified as an Eco-School, Kulstad school, Mosjøen students are devoted to reduce their ecological footprint.

As a local solution to global climate challenges, the school has chosen the topics of consumption and waste for their Alcoa W5 project. Kulstad has established a collaboration with the local waste and recycling unit where the pupils can visit and apply their knowledge. At their school they follow rules for recycling, weigh their paper waste, and when they are hiking, there are always some pupils responsible to ensure that no one leaves litters!

In 2019, Kulstad started with Bokashi composting. This has been a success as it can be used all year round and does not smell bad. Their plan is to use the soil from the compost to make a garden where they can grow their own vegetables in the summertime. In only a couple of years, students at Kulstad have made an impressive effort, and the process seems to be the start of a long-term dedication to positive action for sustainable development.   

Zero Waste lunch at Hillman Primary School

Through the Alcoa W5 project, Hillman Primary School is buzzing! Students created reusable food wrappers from beeswax in an attempt to create zero-waste lunch packs!

As part of an Action Day in Australia, students along with their parents created reusable food wrappers from beeswax; as the Environmental Audit highlighted, the school used an excessive amount of plastic packaging, and hence the Eco Committee decided to prepare a waste-free lunch.

“We already have a focus on reducing waste at Hillman, but this project gives us a great framework and process to not only empower the students to look deeper at what else we can do at school to further reduce and recycle waste, but also take what we learn to the school community and into the students’ homes” Aaron Young, Hillman Primary School Principal

Teachers, parents and students alike, got together to make their own beeswax sandwich wrappers. The beeswax was grated onto a cloth, and then melted in the oven.