Take a vote in your enviro club to find out which of these key issues fires people up the most.
Once you have identified the most popular issues, click on the links for some suggested project descriptions.
For some more inspiration, have a look at the case studies from other Sustainable Schools in NSW
Promoting biodiversity in the school grounds/community
- Plant a native garden
- Start a vegetable garden
- Make a home for school yard critters, butterflies, frogs and lizards
- Create a butterfly garden or bird sanctuary
- Plant trees on school grounds, or get involved in National Tree Day
- Create a bird box
- Create a frog bog
- Conduct a biodiversity audit
- Take an environmentally focused field trip
- Visit a National Park
- Start a school yard compost or worm farm
- Create a chicken coop
- Start a stingless bee hive
- Take an excursion and learn about a local issue
Reducing food miles
- Host a 'Meat Free Monday'
- Host a waste free lunch
- Run an awareness campaign about the importance of buying local food
- Visit local farms and learn about where your food comes from
- Up-cycling in your garden
- Start a vegetable garden
Looking after endangered species in Australia and internationally
- Fundraise money to give an organisation that protects animals
- Adopt an animal
- Adopt a koala
- Volunteer in your local community
- Volunteer at the Zoo
- Become a citizen scientist
- Get involved with digivol
- Fundraise for local wildlife and your school with EdgePledge
Tackling climate change / saving energy
- Get involved with Earth Hour
- Conduct an lighting audit
- Set up automatic shutdown timers for computers
- Install thermometers in classrooms to monitor temperature of air-conditioning and heating
- Make posters and signs reminding people to turn off lights and electronics when they are not using them
- Get involved with the bike powered energy movement
- Investigate energy use at your school
- Ask your school executive to switch to Green Power
- Hold a walk or bike to school day
- Apply for grants or fundraise to have solar panels installed in your school
- Install blinds to better insulate classrooms exposed to sun
Improving water quality / saving water
- Conduct a water audit
- Tips for a water efficient home
- Recycle water from taps
- Create a water smart garden
- Reduce the use of bottled water in your school
- Fundraise to have water refill stations installed at your school to deter people from buying packaged water
- Test your local creek or waterway
- Clean up your local waterway
- National Sea Week
- National Water Week
- World Wetlands Day
- Enter the Save Water Awards
- Fundraise or apply for grants to have rainwater tanks installed
Promoting love of nature
- Take an excursion and learn about a local issue
- Partner with community organisation such as Land Care and rejuvenate a local piece of land
- Host a sustainability fair
- Create a butterfly garden or bird sanctuary
- Plant trees on school grounds, or get involved in National Tree Day
- Create a bird box
- Create a frog bog
- Conduct a biodiversity audit
- Take an environmentally focused fieldtrip
- Visit a National Park
Promoting sustainable transport eg walking/riding
Reducing waste of resources - (eg recycling paper, food waste, mobile phones etc)
- Start a Return & Earn program at school to recycle containers
- Join in Schools Clean up Day or Clean Up Australia Day
- Introduce recycling bins co-mingling recycling to reduce the amount rubbish going to land-fill
- Make reusable bags and share them with your community
- Introduce recycling champions, who collect recycling bins and make sure rubbish goes in the right place
- Do a waste audit and set litter targets and reward the school and individual students when they reach them
- Conduct an e-waste drive for parents and the community
- Mobile muster - recycle mobile phones
- Host a clothing swap
- Host a waste free lunch
- Clean up your local waterway
- Host a garage sale as part of the Garage Sale Trail.
Reducing litter/plastics in the environment
- Run an anti-plastic bags campaign
- Include a 'Take 3' activity in your next school excursion, field trip or community activity
- Run an awareness campaign to improve recycling
- Introduce recycling bins co-mingling recycling to reduce the amount rubbish going to land-fill
- Introduce recycling champions, who collect recycling bins and make sure rubbish goes in the right place
- Start recycling your soft plastics
Reducing consumption
- Hold a stall at a local market day and sell produce from your garden or recycled goods
- Host a garage sale as part of the Garage Sale Trail.
- Host a clothing swap
- Host a 'Meat Free Monday'
Improving the built environment
- Fundraise or apply for grants to have rainwater tanks installed
- Apply for grants or fundraise to have solar panels installed in your school
- Install blinds to better insulate classrooms exposed to sun
- Plant shade trees to reduce heat at school
- Map & audit your school playgrounds, create a sensory garden or reduce stormwater run off.
Connect with others beyond the school
- Connect with your local Environmental Education Centre
- Use the Go Volunteer website to find organisations to volunteer with
- Attend The Youth Eco Summit
- Get involved with YATZ, a Taronga Zoo Initiative that teaches teens about sustainability and how to protect our environment
- Connect with other young people at the Australian Youth Climate Coalition and Seed.
- Investigate if your local council has a youth network or forum