The sustainability team at St Norbert College is a powerful force for change known as the “Climate Cannons”. The team began when a group of year nine students attended a sustainability and energy summit in 2019 and has grown into a thriving, student-led movement driven by passion, creativity and community spirit.

Inspired by other schools and motivated to actively tackle environmental challenges across the Queens Park campus, the Climate Cannons are a dynamic group of 40 to 60 students from years seven to 12 who meet regularly to plan initiatives. Teacher and Climate Cannons coordinator Danielle Pisconeri supports the group with dedicated time in her schedule, working closely with leadership, organising activities and communicating with students and staff to keep momentum strong.

A standout achievement of the Climate Cannons is the creation and implementation of Containers for Change bag holders in collaboration with the school’s metalwork team. The custom-made bag holders make recycling more visible and intuitive than closed-lid bins, leading to dramatically improved separation of eligible containers over the past five years. Students roll up their sleeves every three weeks to empty and sort the Containers for Change bin bags during extended homeroom. While they jokingly groan about less-pleasant aspects, they enthusiastically share what they find with peers, hoping to shift behaviours across the school.

The Climate Cannons are also vital in promoting sustainability-themed engagement events across the college. From National Recycling Week to the ever-popular National Pollinator Week, students run activities that spark curiosity, conversation and fun, such as dressing as bees for Bee Awareness Day.

The next challenge was the college’s first clothes swap, to tackle fast fashion and reduce textile waste. Students and staff brought in pre-loved clothing and received coupons to ‘shop’ for new items. Additional gold-coin donations raised funds for the school’s Christmas appeal through the Student Ministry team. Leftover items were donated to Kimberley communities or local charities, with only three unusable pieces sent to H&M’s fabric recycling program.

The Climate Cannons remain committed to their vision of generating long-term behaviour change and embedding sustainable habits across the college community. More widely, their work is inspiring the wider WasteSorted Schools network and reinforcing their belief that young people can drive environmental benefits.

Round 2: Closes 4pm, Tuesday 4 August.

WasteSorted Schools grants provide funding for schools to set up infrastructure and initiatives that avoid and recover school waste. Grants of up to $5,500 are available and all accredited WasteSorted Schools are eligible to apply.

We strongly recommend you contact one of our team to chat about your project before you submit your application. We would be happy to support you with project ideas and tips on the grant application process.

High Schools – Hannah Lalor, Hannah.Lalor@dwer.wa.gov.au 

Primary Schools – Aoife McCabe, Aoife.McCabe@dwer.wa.gov.au

Regional schools – Megan Mentz, Megan.Mentz@dwer.wa.gov.au

Please see the grants page for more information on how to apply.

Wonderful worms and organics workshop

Date: Tuesday 15 September

Time: 9am–3pm

Location: Joondalup Education Support Centre

To celebrate the launch of the new Worms curriculum, join the WasteSorted Schools team and Robyn Brown from Waste is My Resource for a hands-on day exploring worms and organics recycling.

Learn more about the new curriculum resources, discover practical classroom activities, and gain ideas to support organics education at your school.

Register: https://events.humanitix.com/wonderful-worms-and-organics-workshop

WasteSorted Schools Student Meet – sold out!

Our annual event for high school students is now sold out! This year, more than 250 students from 19 schools are registered to attend the Student Meet at Aquinas College.

If you would like to attend next year’s event, please contact us at wastesortedschools@dwer.wa.gov.au and we will make sure you receive notification when registrations open.

WasteSorted Schools plastics and organics workshop – Wyndham

Date: Friday 18 September

Time: 9.30am–2.30pm

Venue: Wyndham District High School

Join WasteSorted Schools for a practical, inspiring day focused on reducing, reusing and recovering organic and plastic waste in your school community.

The morning session will include information on becoming an accredited school, assessing school waste, setting up waste infrastructure, applying for WSS grants, curriculum resources and success stories from Regional and Aboriginal community schools.

The hands-on afternoon session will feature plastics and organics activities. It will also include presentations from local experts including Kununurra Community Garden and Containers for Change.

This workshop is suitable for primary and secondary school staff including teachers, principals, administration staff, gardeners and parents. The workshop is FREE and relief reimbursement is available for TWO staff (teachers, EA's and gardeners) from each school.

There is an option for teachers from Kimberley schools to join us online for the morning session only from 9:30 am–11:30 am and still gain valuable insights (a half day relief is covered).

Register now and select your preferred attendance option:
https://events.humanitix.com/wastesorted-schools-plastics-and-organics-workshop-wyndham

Worms curriculum guides and PowerPoint slides

The updated WasteSorted Schools Worms curriculum guides and PowerPoints are now available to download.

The activities have been designed for students from Pre-primary

to Year Two, Year Three to Year Four, and Year Five to Year Six. The teacher booklet includes a series of engaging lessons, with supporting worksheets, all mapped to the latest WA Curriculum.

Each lesson comes with a set of accompanying PowerPoints that provide step-by-step instruction to support delivery of each activity, making it easy to integrate worm farming concepts into the classroom.

Download the curriculum guides and PowerPoints from our website to begin learning all about wonderful worms.  

New Plastic Free July resource for high schools

WasteSorted Schools has developed a new high school student engagement activity that makes it easy to raise awareness about single-use plastics while encouraging positive behaviour change.

The activity is designed to run over a lunch break and includes:

A fast-paced 60-second sorting challenge, where students and staff sort reusable and plastic-free items from single-use plastic items.

A Plastic Free July MythBusters quiz, tackling common misconceptions about plastics, recycling and waste.

A Plastic Free July pledge wall, where participants commit to one action they will take to reduce single-use plastics throughout the month.

The resource provides everything schools need to get started, including setup instructions, suggested sorting items, MythBusters question cards and links to Plastic Free July pledge resources.

If your school would like a copy of the Plastic Free July High School Student Engagement Activity, please get in touch at wastesortedschools@dwer.wa.gov.au.

Avoidable Food Waste fact sheet

We're pleased to announce the release of our new Avoidable Food Waste fact sheet, which provides practical tips and evidence-based strategies to help schools, students and families reduce edible food waste.

The fact sheet highlights the scale of the issue in WA schools, where an estimated 3 million pieces of fruit, 1.3 million packaged food items and 3.5 million sandwiches are wasted each year. It also explores the key factors that influence food waste behaviours and outlines simple actions that can make a difference at home and at school.

The resource is now available for download on the WasteSorted Schools website and is a valuable tool for schools looking to reduce waste, save money and support more sustainable food practices

Updated Waste Station fact sheet

Our updated Waste Station fact sheet is now available, with even more practical guidance to help schools create effective and user-friendly waste stations.

The revised factsheet includes:

Suggested bin sizes for different school settings and waste streams

Guidance on the best locations for waste stations to maximise correct sorting and minimise contamination

Recommendations for clear and consistent signage to help students and staff make the right disposal choices

Tips for setting up and maintaining waste stations that support your school’s waste reduction goals

Download the updated factsheet from the WasteSorted Schools website and use it as a handy reference when planning new waste stations or reviewing your existing setup.

Plastic Free Term 3

From its beginnings right here in WA, Plastic Free July has grown to become a global sustainability movement. With their Plastic Free Schools Challenge, you can now inspire your school to make a difference with solutions to single-use plastic all year round. 

A great way to involve your school community is by hosting a waste-free lunch event. With resources for school and home, our Waste-free lunch toolkit will help to educate and inspire your school community to avoid and recover waste.

Keep Australia Beautiful Week 3–9 August

This year’s KAB Week theme is “Beautiful Spaces – Happy places!” where they delve into how time enjoying nature in clean environments improves your physical and mental wellbeing, and why clean shared spaces like beaches and parks improve community wellbeing.

From barefoot grounding and birdwatching to beach swims and bushwalks, their Nature’s Prescription provides a practical guide to activities that reconnect Australians with nature.

Landcare Week 3–9 August

Landcare Week is an annual campaign celebrated during the first week of August that acknowledges the Australians who are actively restoring, enhancing and protecting the natural environment in their community.  

The Landcare Week campaign week is an opportunity to create awareness of Landcare to the wider community, and for us all to promote the environmental, community and wellbeing benefits of getting your hands dirty to create healthier landscapes and waterways and help improve biodiversity.     

For more information, and tips on how to get involved, head to the Landcare Australia website.

National Science Week 15–23 August

The school theme for National Science Week in 2026 is Seeds of Science: nurturing science for all. This theme encourages schools to explore how ideas take root, develop and spread – from the first spark of a question to the sharing of discoveries that benefit the wider community. It’s a celebration of how knowledge grows when tended with care, creativity and collaboration.

To find more information and free teaching resources head to the National Science Week website.

Celebrate National Science Week 2026 with Curiosity Unleashed, Scitech's exciting FREE virtual excursions for Years 3 – 6. Inspired by this year's theme, Seeds of Science: Nurturing Knowledge for All, each interactive 20-minute session explores fascinating questions including:

• Can Plants Feel Things?
• Can Sharks Stop Swimming?
• Can Humans Fly?

Teachers can register for individual sessions or the full series and receive extension activities plus access to session recordings. Sessions run from 17–21 August 2026

Book here: Curiosity Unleashed Virtual Excursions - Scitech

Tidy Towns Sustainable Community Awards

Keep Australia Beautiful WA's annual Tidy Towns Sustainable Communities Award nominations are currently open and are closing on Friday 21 August.

These awards are for regional and remote communities of all sizes. There are nine categories that communities can enter to showcase their projects.

If your school has a student, or group of students, that are passionate about protecting and enhancing their local environment you can nominate them in the Young Legends category and help shine a light on the next generation of sustainability leaders!

Check out the wonderful things happening in Williams, the WA and national winners from 2025.  

Save the date: Garage Sale Trail Returns This November

Garage Sale Trail is back this November, with two big weekends of garage sales and community markets on 7–8 and 14–15 November.

Schools are encouraged to start thinking about how they could get involved, whether it’s a school garage sale, community market or fundraising event. It’s a fun way to bring families together, raise funds and save items from landfill.

Registrations will open in September, so for now, pop the dates in your calendar and stay tuned for more details!

Visit the dedicated schools page to learn more or join the waitlist

Waste Audit

Conducting a waste audit is a necessary step to becoming an accredited WasteSorted School. This fun and informative incursion helps you find out the types and amount of waste your school produces. The data collected can be used to prioritise and improve existing waste projects.

WasteSorted Race

Are your students struggling with the correct waste sorting behaviours? Or have you introduced a new bin system at your school like paper recycling or food organics? Book our WasteSorted Race incursion to help students learn the importance of source separation.

Paper Making Kit

If you are looking for a hands-on way to educate your students about the recycling process, why not borrow our paper making kit? This kit contains all the equipment needed for you and your students to turn old, scrap paper into new, usable paper.

To organise a booking in the metro area, please contact us at wastesortedschools@dwer.wa.gov.au.

Water Corporation WA

Bring water education to life with Water Corporation's range of engaging and interactive incursions. They are available in the Perth Metropolitan area and are free to book. Each incursion has been designed by the Waterwise School Education team to support the Western Australian Curriculum, including the sustainability cross-curricular priority. 

Each incursion offers a unique experience, where students discover:

Water for today - Where our water comes from and why it’s vital for daily life.

Water for tomorrow - Why we need to conserve and protect water and how simple actions can make a meaningful difference.

Water in Aboriginal culture – How traditional Aboriginal water management and conservation practices continue to be cared for and sustainably managed today.

Book here: Perth metro school incursions - Water Corporation WA

Becoming a garbage man isn't hard....you just pick it up as you go along.