Hillbrook Anglican School—located at Enoggera, Brisbane—is very proud of its sustainability practices and its work to embed Circular Economy beliefs into every part of school life. This program is led by Ginnese Johnston (Year 7 Home teacher, Science teacher and Circular Economy Coordinator) and the Sustainability Committee.
Hillbrook Anglican School—located at Enoggera, Brisbane—is very proud of its sustainability practices and its work to embed Circular Economy beliefs into every part of school life. This program is led by Ginnese Johnston (Year 7 Home teacher, Science teacher and Circular Economy Coordinator) and the Sustainability Committee.
Hillbrook’s mission is: ‘To inspire and empower our community to live “circular” through education and leading by best practice, with the underlying belief that collectively we can make a positive difference on a global scale.’
What is Circular Economy? A circular economy is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. It is restorative and regenerative by intention and design. It shifts towards the use of renewable energy, eliminates the use of toxic chemicals and aims for the elimination of waste through the superior design of materials, products, systems and business modes.
Hillbrook, as a community, is working hard to minimise our ecological and environmental impact and to restore as much balance as we can by changing our habits. Our major achievements to date are:
- incorporating Circular Economy education into the curriculum for all subjects
- implementing a four-bin system throughout the school, with recycling, landfill, compost and soft plastics, including regular bin audits by students
- utilising recycling programs for batteries, toner, ink, pens, markers, shredded documents, uniforms, untreated wood and steel
- all food made and packaged on site being fully compostable (including packaging)
- worm farms, native beehives and being a registered wildlife sanctuary
- water tanks for gardens and amenities installed around the school
- a Smart Energy Management system installed to control air conditioning and energy usage
- installation of solar panels throughout the school to create renewable energy
- exporting energy back into the grid during school hours.
If you are interested in reading further about the circular economy and the sustainability practices that Hillbrook applies, please head to the following link:
https://sites.google.com/student.hillbrook.qld.edu.au/procurementguide/home-page
Robyn Mensforth
Food & Nutrition teacher
Hillbrook Anglican School
Bin Hub in a Staff Room
Bin Hubs in the Food & Nutrition Kitchen
Native Beehive at Hillbrook
Bin Hubs throughout Hillbrook
