Students at Canterbury Public School in NSW have formed a gardening club as part of a composting project funded by a Coles Junior Landcare Garden Grant.
The Canterbury Green Thumbs Gardening Club includes both students and parents, and gives students who are interested in gardening the opportunity to work in the garden out of school hours.
The composting program has made a big impact on the school, reducing the amount of waste in the school bins and producing herbs and vegetables for use in the school canteen. The use of pesticides in the garden is very limited and the compost soil is used to enrich the garden for future crops, helping maintain a sustainable garden.
The students were keen to find out how much waste could be recycled into compost and returned to the garden.  Through the program, students have actively participated in collecting and sorting waste and learnt about the importance of composting through workshops, gardening lessons and weekend community working bees.
A KnowWaste workshop run by Cleanaway demonstrated how much waste is produced in a day and how to reduce the amount of matter placed in landfill by using worm farms and compost bins. The Natures Recyclers workshop helped the students better understand the benefits of composting at school and at home.
There is now a significant reduction in the amount of waste going tin to the school bins and vegetables and herbs produced in the garden are helping to create a more sustainable school canteen.
The project was made possible through a grant from Junior Landcare. To find out how your school or community group can apply for funding through Junior Landcare, please visit: www.juniorlandcare.com.au