Green Pages

In the last week of Term 1, Camberwell Grammar celebrated its commitment to sustainability with its annual Green Week. This year’s theme was sustainable transport as private transport, i.e our personal cars, make up 10% of Australia’s national emissions (according to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water).

The week kicked off with a sustainable transport competition, organised by Luna Robinson (Year 10). Starting on Friday the week before (National Ride 2 School Day) and continuing through the week, students cycled, walked, and used Public Transport Victoria (PTV) to get to school. It was an amazing display of environmental awareness by all our students and staff. Thank you to MP Dr Monique Ryan, Federal Representative for Boroondara, for sending a message to the students on sustainable transport and how we can all play our part.

On Tuesday, Kirsty Bishop-Fox from Sustainability Pathways presented to the students on ways to become more sustainable in our day-to-day efforts, and on Wednesday we screened Regenerating Australia by Damon Gameau, a documentary that asks the question ‘What would Australia look like if we take climate action seriously over the next 10 years?’

As the week continued, the School was turning Green everywhere you looked. The Library and DEEDS adopted a green theme, the canteen ran a special meat-free menu, and the students themselves garbed in green for the final day of term.

We finished the week with the famous Green Week concert, a collection of acts by the students for the students to complement our fundraiser, raising funds for the Australian Conservation Foundation. The students celebrated with music, free dress, and a meat-free barbeque, where they were invited to try out products similar to meat but without all the carbon and methane emissions.

The week was one to be remembered and wouldn’t have happened without the efforts of the Towards2050 group. A massive thank you to all involved.

Henry Shirrefs Prefect for Environment and Sustainability

The School’s incredible Target Zero program is made possible by the School Board’s decision to bring on a consultant who would not only give us a report on our footprint, but who would also advise us on where we should focus our attention as we walk the path towards sustainable operations. Jane Burns, from CERES Consulting, has been working with us since the start of 2022 on this project, guiding us through the discovery phase and now working with us on the first steps of waste reduction.

Jane moved into teaching almost two decades ago after working in community education. She loved working in the community and initiated many environmental workshops that paid particular attention to sustainable procurement and the use of materials.

After working as a classroom teacher, Jane applied her qualifications to working as a consultant in environmental education, bringing together her environmental experience and educational training. During this time, she developed programs for student learning in regenerative agriculture and sustainable food systems and expanded these to schools Australia-wide.

In 2014, Jane joined Melbourne’s much-loved CERES Community Environment Park, where she is still an employee. For several years she led the delivery of ResourceSmart Schools in over 300 schools in metropolitan Melbourne, supporting student learning and teacher professional development in environmental education, and whole-of-school change in sustainable campus and community engagement.

At the start of 2021, she moved out of the School of Nature and Climate at CERES to head up their new social enterprise, CERES Consulting. When CERES Consulting was invited to work with Camberwell Grammar at the start of 2022, Jane was reminded of Nelson Mandela’s saying, ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world’, and

was both thrilled and excited to have the opportunity to bring her experience and passion into a school so committed to ambitious action on climate.

Jane loves searching for and enacting solutions to help schools and organisations create sustainable places and take action on the climate and nature crisis. Her passion for our planet and its environment means that she does not feel like she is really working but is simply doing what she would want to do anyway.

Towards2050 members Archie Evans (Year 8), Eamon Newell (Year 8), and Harry Anderson (Year 7) suited up and assisted Backyard Honey with harvesting our Camberwell Grammar honey.

The bees add positively to the School’s biodiversity and gardens and provide an engaging learning opportunity on the importance of sustainability.