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The Waste Wise Schools Program: Evidence of Educational, Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes at the School and Community Level

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 June 2015

Patricia Armstrong ,
Brian Sharpley  and
Stephen Malcolm
Patricia Armstrong*
Affiliation:
Gould League
Brian Sharpley
Affiliation:
Gould League
Stephen Malcolm
Affiliation:
Gould League
*
†Deputy CEO, Gould League, PO Box 1117, Moorabbin, Victoria 3189, Australia. Email: pata@gould.edu.au
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Abstract

The Waste Wise Schools Program was established by EcoRecycle Victoria to implement waste and litter education in Victorian schools. It is now operating in over 900 schools in Victoria and 300 schools in other Australian states / territories. This paper provides detailed case studies of two active schools in the Waste Wise Schools Program and considers for each school how the Program started, what it meant to the school, the environmental, educational, social and economic outcomes of the Program and the key success factors. It discusses evidence that the Program has changed the thinking and behaviour of many families at the schools, suggesting that the children may be acting as catalysts to influence their parent's waste wise behaviour, i.e. having an intergenerational influence. Guidelines for promoting this influence are proposed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Australian Journal of Environmental Education , Volume 20 , Issue 2 , 2004 , pp. 1 - 11
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2004

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