Local school canteens are skipping plastic

Ten Northern Beaches school canteens and their students helped eliminate over 130,000 single-use plastic items last year by participating in our Swap for Good canteen program.

Schools needed to show commitment to reducing single-use plastics by initially ditching plastic straws and water bottles. These are normally the easiest plastics to eliminate, thanks to bubblers and reusable water bottles.

These incredible schools and resident little waste champions took it upon themselves to aim for the stars and did so much more.

Some standout achievements include:

Belrose Public School – eliminated 4,000 plastic containers by swapping disposables with compostable containersSt John the Baptist – this school was doing a great job and had eliminated most of their single-use plastics already. The canteen is now implementing 50 reusable containers for lunch ordersDee Why Public School – 1,120 plastic water bottles were diverted from landfill with the school no longer selling single-use plastic water bottlesStella Maris College, Balgowlah Heights, Avalon and Harbord Public Schools– together eliminated more than 60,000 single-use sauce packets. Instead the schools have large sauce bottles at the canteen for students to use  Manly Vale Public School – eliminated 3,600 plastic sushi boxes by working with their supplier to deliver the sushi in paper bags with no single-use plastic wrapSt Cecilia’s and Manly West Public School – together substituted more than 12,000 plastic food cups for reusable cups

Well done school canteen managers, staff, students and parents!

Places in our 2022 Swap for Good canteen program have opened. Spaces are limited to 10 schools so get in quick!

Council’s Waste Education team will support school canteen managers providing a sustainability consultant and regular group meetings with other participating schools to troubleshoot and congratulate each other along the way.

What are you waiting for? Make 2022 the year your school canteen eliminates single-use plastics!

Apply now