Campaspe community doing WICKED things

13 November 2018 - Media release

Winners of the 2018 Waste In Campaspe – Know, Educate, Do (WICKED) Sustainability Awards were announced at a special ceremony held at the Echuca Library on Monday, 12 November.

Campaspe Shire Mayor Cr Adrian Weston said winners were selected across three categories and the quality of entries was of a very high standard.

“Council is proud to recognise and reward the dedication and success of the local community in conserving our environment,” Cr Weston said.

The awards required entrants to submit photos, posters, stories or videos that showed how they address the theme, “conserving our environment”. According to the Global Footprint Network, if the world population lived like Australians, we would need the resources of 5.2 Earths to sustain ourselves.

“Entrants into the awards demonstrated the many ways in which our community is conserving the environment and its resources for the future,” Cr Weston said.

Some strong themes that emerged from the entries were initiatives and strategies geared towards reducing single use plastic waste, composting, growing vegetables, reusing and repurposing items, saving water and packing Nude Food lunches.

The three award categories and winners were:

Individual/Community Group Category - $300 cash prize

Rochester Community House with their poster entry “Switch to Save”. Rochester Community House has introduced over 3,000 enviro bags into their community and started a Boomerang Bags sewing group which has already made over 50 bags from upcycled fabric. They have implemented a range of recycling and composting programs with community partners as well as the “Food is Free” table for people to take what they need or leave what they don’t.

Other awards presented in this category were:

High commendation award ($100 cash prize): Nate Murrells from Echuca, whose photo and story entry showed that despite being 5 years old, he could still make a big impact by composting, recycling correctly and borrowing toys from the local Toy Library. Encouragement award ($100 cash prize): Edith Margaret Spedding from Echuca who enjoys repurposing items around the home and reducing her generation of rubbish.

Business/Industry Category - $400 advertising voucher

Equal winners in this category were:

Community Living and Respite Services for their video entry “CLRS promoting a culture of conservation”. The organisation has signed up to the Victorian Government TAKE 2 pledge and is preventing waste from being sent to landfill via their Recyclability Program and op shop. The team also sew lightweight produce bags for people to use instead of bagging their fruit and vegetables in plastic. Colbinabbin Country Hotel for their story and slide presentation entry “Every Little Bit Helps”. Hotel Manager Julie Price has been a conserver of the environment all her life. Amongst countless initiatives, the hotel uses grey water on the garden, grows their own herbs, encourages locals to have their take-away meals on a plate then return it and does not supply bottled water to customers.

School Category -$500 cash prize for the school to put towards a sustainability project

Grade 5 and 6 class from St Mary’s Primary School, Rushworth with their story and video entry “Nude Food Lunch Box Day”. Student leaders created a video to help other students and the community understand how to pack a lunch box free from plastic and packaging, and on a dedicated day they achieved a participation rate of 98 per cent Nude Food Lunch Boxes. This initiative has continued, with students becoming more aware of how they can reduce this waste and why it’s important.

Other awards presented in this category were:

High commendation award ($200 for the school to put towards a sustainability project): went to Colbinabbin Preschool for their poster entry “Conserving Our Environment” which depicted environmental activities the preschool has been involved in, including making their own compost and worm castings, growing fruit trees and reusing materials. Encouragement award went to the Wicked Waste Warriors at St Joseph’s Primary School, Rochester. The students have implemented a school compost system and worm farm, so they can give back to the soil and share the seasonal produce grown. The school won a screening licence to ‘Blue’ the film.

The WICKED Sustainability Awards were proudly jointly sponsored by Veolia and Campaspe Shire.