BY CATHERINE ALLEN
Irrawang High School students have taken the initiative to create positive change by creating a petition asking for a statewide reboot for school waste management.
Ms. Kate Connor, the student's geography teacher, says they were inspired by the ABC show The War on Waste, to understand the recycling systems in place in other schools around the state.
"The students got all inspired to improve the waste streams at our school and discovered (when it comes to recycling) there wasn't an easy solution," Ms. Connor says.
"The students really felt that we needed a statewide solution to make recycling in schools easy and effective".
The decision was made to create a change.org petition and deliver it to Port Stephens MP Kate Washington when it gathered 500 signatures.
The MP is complimentary of the student's efforts saying she is pleased to bring the issue to the State Government.
"I just want to thank the students for being active, engaged and interested in the environment and in politics," Ms. Washington says.
"Understanding a way they can raise an issue that they feel deeply about in this way is really clever and I really value their effort and energy".
"What I propose ... is to provide it to the Minister for Education and the Shadow Minister for Education, and ask them to listen to the voices of the students and understand that they feel deeply about the environment and that they would like to see a better system for recycling in our schools".
To support the students of Irrawang High School in their efforts sign their change.org petition at change.org
