Winners
2008 Winners
Winners ($2000)
Primary School: Beginner Category
Pakenham Springs Primary School
Pakenham Springs Primary School has taken a whole-school team approach to the Challenge, enabling Grade 5 students to take on a leadership role within the school whilst also highlighting the importance of making rubbish free lunches an everyday feature of the school.
Students who were already bringing rubbish free lunches gave a presentation to their classmates to show them how it was done, while the younger classes wrote letters to their parents.
Secondary School: Beginner Category
Catholic Regional College, Caroline Springs
At Catholic Regional College, Caroline Springs students worked together to support the Rubbish Free Lunch Challenge. The whole school participated in a ‘Nude Food Day’ which resulted in the school purchasing a worm farm for organic waste. Catholic Regional College aims to make nude food a permanent event at the school.
The school is also in the process of updating their waste management policy to include all forms of recycling to ensure that they recycle waste to the fullest extent.
Led by the Year 8 students they were also asked to design an advertising campaign for a sustainability project and present it during class.
Primary School: Advanced Category
St. Augustine's College, Kyabram
The 5/ 6 class facilitated this year’s Challenge and supported cross-age tutoring for all primary levels. The 5’s and 6’s developed their own methodology, advertising and promotional campaigns, and provided tips and ideas to other primary classes.
Students at St. Augustine’s College participated in a week-long healthy lunch box competition where students learnt that healthy lunches often produced little waste.
The school has implemented a four bin rubbish system in the primary class rooms which involves a bin for paper and cardboard, a compost bucket, a plastic recycling bin and a general rubbish bin.
Hero School: Category
Mildura West Primary School
Longstanding entrants in the Rubbish Free Lunch Challenge, Mildura West has participated since the Challenge first began in 1998 and has won many awards for their continued dedication to achieving sustainability within their community.
This year the school has established a new three bin system where students collected a tiny 235 grams on their Rubbish Free Lunch Day.
Mildura West is continuing to persist with their rubbish free quest towards zero waste and to sustain their current practices!
Through the development and awareness, students are making positive impacts on the purchasing of food items in their home and improving their sustainable living practices within their families.
Hero School: Category
Rolling Hills Primary School
At Rolling Hills, students have weekly visits from Captain Sustainability who records their lunch rubbish and awards the class with the least rubbish with the Sustainable Cup.
Following the 2007 Rubbish Free Lunch Challenge and as part of the Sustainable Schools Program, Rolling Hills reviewed their Waste Minimisation Policy.
The review is a student-based strategy to minimise the amount of waste going to landfill while also teaching students sustainable attitudes and habits so they can practice them at home, at school and in the community.
The school implemented a multifaceted advertising campaign including articles in the school newsletter, a huge promo board erected at the front of the school and posters designed by Grade 1’s.
Runners-up ($250)
Primary School: Beginner Category
- Merrivale Primary School
Primary School: Advanced Category
- Berwick Fields Primary School
- Mill Park Primary School
Encouragement awards
Primary School: Beginner Category
Mount Scopus Memorial College (Smorgon Family Primary School)
Primary School: Advanced Category
Kurunjang Primary School
Secondary School: Beginner Category
Kingswood College and Shepparton High School
2007 Winners
Winners ($2000)
Primary School: Beginner Category
North Melbourne Primary School
North Melbourne Primary School took a fantastic whole-school team approach to the Challenge with teachers, students and parents meeting twice a term to ensure a weekly Rubbish Free Lunch day was held at the school.
It's also interesting to note that this year the school held the Challenge in partnership with University High School. The High School's Year 9 students acted as role models and mentors for the younger students ... and also judged the school's Rubbish Free Lunch Poster Competition.
Secondary School: Beginner Category
Alexandra Secondary College
First time entrants in the Rubbish Free Lunch Challenge, Alexandra Secondary College recognised that their school yard and corridors needed to become rubbish free.
With many students coming from Primary Schools that had well established rubbish management policies, students and teachers were in a great position to work together to rid these areas of litter.
Led by the SRC, the Challenge provided a great opportunity to develop and implement the top-four Rubbish Reduction Strategies as a way to change student behaviour.
Primary School: Advanced Category
Lilydale West Primary School
Long-time participants in the Rubbish Free Lunch Challenge, and with a 5 star sustainable school rating, Lilydale West Primary School holds Rubbish Free Lunch days on a regular basis.
Grades win awards for the most lunches rubbish free and at the end of the year, the grade with the most awards receives a BBQ cooked by the Principal!
Hero School: Category
Mildura West Primary School
A long standing entrant into the Rubbish Free Lunch Challenge, Mildura West has participated since the Challenge first began in 1998.
They are a 5 star sustainable school which continues to head towards zero waste and adopt a practical Rubbish Free Lunch policy of: 'what you bring in you take out'.
In addition to winning today's Hero Award, Mildura West has received a number of other litter reduction awards including:
- 2003 Litter Free Challenge
- 2004 Regional winner for Sustainable Schools Litter Management
- 2005 and 2006 winner of the Advanced Primary School Category, Rubbish Free Lunch Challenge.
For more information on these winning entries, see: Judges Feedback
Runners-up ($250)
Primary School: Beginner Category
- Port Melbourne Primary School
- Chatham Primary School
Primary School: Advanced Category
- Berwick Fields Primary School
Secondary School: Beginner Category
- Flying Fruit Fly Circus School
- St Augustine's P-10 School
Encouragement awards
Primary School: Beginner Category
Belvoir Special School, Carnegie Primary School, Christian College Bellarine, Cowes Primary School, Creswick Primary School, Gardenvale Primary School, Hillsmeade Primary School, Lara Lake Primary School, Manchester Primary School, Manningham Park Primary School, Milgate Primary School, Minaret College, Montpellier Primary School, Portland Special Developmental School, Seville Primary School, St Michael’s Parish School
Primary School: Advanced Category
Grahamvale Primary School, Mount Beauty Primary School, Mount Waverley Primary School, Peninsula Special Developmental School.
Secondary School: Beginner Category
Kingswood College, Lara Secondary College, Montmorency Secondary College, Mooroopna Secondary College, Pakenham Consolidated School, Red Hill Consolidated School, Western Heights College (Minerva Campus).
2006 Winners
Winners ($2000)
Primary School: Beginner Category
Clifton Springs Primary School
After an eye-opening visit to Creswick Landcare Centre, Year 5 and 6 Clifton Springs students decided to implement a whole school approach to a Rubbish Free – Nude Food policy at the school.
The students employed creative mediums such as posters, slogans, and raps to educate and encourage students and staff of Clifton Springs Primary School to support the Challenge.
In addition, the use of alarming facts and the cost comparisons were used to highlight the benefits of making rubbish free lunches an everyday part of school life!
Secondary School: Beginner Category
Mordialloc College
Mordialloc College’s Year 7 students were the driving forces behind the Rubbish Free Lunch Challenge. Using the Plan, Do, Study and Act Quality in Schools process to plan and implement the challenge, the students designed posters to promote environmental awareness, invited guest speakers to the school and ran workshops with 150 students to develop ideas to improve waste management at the school.
The result was the successful implementation of a ‘Nude Food’ policy where food cannot go outside if it has a wrapper.
Primary School: Advanced Category
Mildura West Primary School
Mildura West Primary School continues to head towards a zero waste policy, adopting a practical Rubbish Free Lunch policy: ‘what you bring in, you take out’. The aim is to encourage the collaboration of students, teachers and the school community to become a sustainable organisation.
The Year 5’s were in charge of the Challenge and their strategies included the designing of posters with the school’s policy of zero waste displayed around the school and the presentation of plays and skits at assemblies and to individual classes. The employment of ‘Litter Police’, Year 5 students who modelled the waste and rubbish management practices, saw reward tokens given to students who displayed the correct concepts of recycling and waste management.
Secondary School: Advanced Category
Portland Secondary College
2005's winner in the beginner category, Portland Secondary College went on to take out the title in the advanced category in 2006. Continued commitment to reducing waste has seen Portland Secondary College expand the program to include local government and businesses in their rubbish free pursuits.
With the money won in 2005, Portland Secondary College purchased 30 new recycling bins. On Nude Food Day this year, recycling was launched with a recycling bin percussion around the school grounds by the Nudies – Portland Secondary College’s dedicated team of volunteers who are committed to implementing environmental best practice.
Runners-up ($250)
Primary School: Beginner Category
- Yellingbo Primary School
- Mount Waverley Primary School
Primary School: Advanced Category
- Clifton Hill Primary School
- Dromana Primary School
Secondary School: Beginner Category
- Flora Hill Secondary College