Waste education
Council's Waste Education Program provides services to help schools and community groups reduce and reuse their waste and recycle right. These include presentations for students, teachers and community groups, free Waste and Resource Recovery Facility tours (via the Rediscovery Centre) and free school recycling services.
Schools and early learning centres can play an important role in rethinking what we do with our waste by encouraging children to become instruments of change at kindy, school, at home and when they are out in the community.
Our Waste Education Officer engages with the community through a range of events, programs and partnerships to influence positive waste and recycling behaviours.
Free programs and services are provided to schools to better educate our younger generation in waste and recycling, which seeks to encourage them to make sustainable choices well into the future.
Waste education school resources are provided free of cost for schools in the Cairns region:
- 240-litre wheelie bin recycling service
- Waste and resource recovery tours of Council facilities
- Waste and resource recovery presentations (in-school)
- Waste education resources
Council offers free recycling services to all schools within the Cairns region. The allocation of recycling bins is based on the number of students per school and they are serviced during the school terms. If your school does not have recycling, please contact Customer Service on 1300 69 22 47 or email the waste services team, wasteservices@cairns.qld.gov.au.
National Recycling Week: 16 - 22 November 2024
During National Recycling Week Council is encouraging everyone to take a moment to consider what items need to stay out of waste bins and instead be placed in our yellow lid recycling bins, so these resources can stay in use for generations.
The 2023 theme is 'Lift the Right Lid and Keep Recycling out of Waste'.
Did you know that over 9,000 tonnes of perfectly good recycling ends up in our Waste Bins each year? Every time we place something recyclable in our waste bins its recycling journey stops in landfill, forever.
To help celebrate National Recycling Week, Council has launched a new education campaign where you can learn how to lift the right lid on recycling and keep these precious resources out of landfill.
Have you ever wondered what happens to waste and recycling in Cairns?
Council offers schools, early learning centres and community groups guided tours of its Waste & Resource Recovery Facilities located in Portsmith, 5 minutes from the CBD of Cairns, free of charge.
The tour allows participants a behind the scenes view of the operation of Council’s impressive resource recovery facilities including the new Materials Recovery Facility, the Advanced Resource Recovery Facility, Portsmith Transfer Station & Capped Landfill as well as a walk through one of the best examples of waste reuse in the community the Cairns Regional Council Buy Back Shop.
The tour also includes a visit to the amazing new Rediscovery Centre, a dedicated all access education experience offering visitors an up-close viewing of the process involved in the sorting recyclables, removal of waste and the baling of materials ready for transportation to market.
To book a free Waste Education Tour please send a completed booking request form ( PDF, 0.23 MB ) to wasteservices@cairns.qld.gov.au. For further information please contact Customer Service on 1300 69 22 47.
Unable to visit our facilities? Council’s Waste Education Officer is available to visit schools, early learning centres
and community group events to present an age/year level appropriate presentation covering Council’s Waste & Recycling operations in the region. The interactive, engaging presentations cover the Cairns Resource Recovery story, how to take greater responsibility for reducing, reusing and recycling our waste and are followed by hands on activities that
reinforce learning areas covered in a fun and entertaining way.
To book a free Waste Education Presentation please send a completed booking request form ( PDF, 0.23 MB ) to wasteservices@cairns.qld.gov.au. For further information please contact Customer Service on 1300 69 22 47.
To add value to your school's Waste Education program, check out our Resources below including our Waste Activity Sheets in the 'For Download' section:
- Recycle Right Cairns Regional Council's Recycle Right website containing videos and information on how to 'keep it simple' when it comes to household recycling.
- A-Z of Waste, a complete webpage list of 'what belongs in what bin' (as well as bin free alternatives for better waste management). You can also download Council's condensed A-Z single page version ( PDF, 3.25 MB ).
- Recycle Mate - Free Downloadable Artificial Intelligence App (for IOS & Android), customised for the Cairns Region, to help identify items which can and can't be recycled. Visit Council's Recycle Mate Cairns webpage for further information.
- Council's Pantry Card ( PDF, 2.96 MB ), a flyer with information about what can be placed in Recycling & Waste bins or taken to Transfer Stations.
- Where does it all go - flyer ( PDF, 1.91 MB ), a short description of the destination for household waste in the Cairns region.
- Recycle Right Poster ( PDF, 2.25 MB ),download an A4 poster to display around your school, community group or office with the six best actions we can take towards Recycling Right in the Cairns region.
- How to ensure your bin gets collected - flyer ( PDF, 1.54 MB ), information on how to present your wheelie bins for collection day.
Videos:
- Our Region's waste / recycling story, a 5 minute educational video for schools and community members on what happens to waste & recycling once collected in the Cairns region. You can also download Council's 'Where does it all go' flyer for a summary of this video.
- Recycling your waste around the house, how and why to reduce waste in your wheelie bins.
- Reuse to reduce waste, re-using things is great way to reduce our waste. See how and why to reuse your items instead of throwing them away.
External content:
Love Food Hate Waste Resources:
The Queensland Government have launched free online resources for Schools to introduce food waste education for students and their families. See some of the resources below (or visit Queensland Government Reduce food waste home page for further information)
Printable 'Love Food Hate Waste' Lessons:
- Year 1 Lesson Plan: How to save food
- Year 2 Lesson Plan: Cupboard, Fridge or Freezer which is best?
- Year 3 Lesson Plan: What is food waste and wy does it happen?
- Year 4 Lesson Plan: What a waste! How much does food waste cost?
- Year 5 Lesson Plan: What a waste! Bit what exactly are we wasting?
- Year 6 Lesson Plan: How can I prevent food waste and be a food boss?
- Year 7 Lesson Plan: How does food waste harm the environment and what can we do to prevent it?
- Year 8 Be a waste warrior! take the pledge to reduce food waste
Organics Waste Smart Schools Program:
Applications for the Organics Smart Schools Program are open until midnight Monday the 14th of November, 2022. View and download the application form.
The Organic Waste Smart School Program (the Program) provides up to $2500 to offset the purchase of equipment that supports organic waste reduction strategies within a school.
Further Resources:
- Council's Let's Get it Sorted Page, information about Love Food Hate Waste, Keep Recycling out of Waste, Recycle Right
- Planet Ark has multiple education resources for teachers and students available
- ABC Television's War on Waste program website has 25 education resources to assist students with Reducing, Reusing and Recycling their waste better
- Cool Australia has a series of curriculum aligned lesson plans and resources for educators on waste reduction and greater sustainability
- The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard has original and sequel videos to get you thinking about the real cost of consumerism. Fast-paced and engaging for primary age upwards.
- The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a man-made phenomenon, largely made up discarded plastics. We recommend viewing for ages six and up due to its stark visual impact, and that the video clip be supported by discussions with students about what they can do to make a positive environmental difference
- Further State Government Waste Education Resources.
Last Updated: 5 January 2024
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