Chemical container recycling program drumMUSTER has teamed up with the local Landcare group to support Forbes North Primary School’s kitchen garden program.
Forbes North Primary School will receive funds diverted from the Forbes Urban Landcare Group through their involvement in drumMUSTER collections.
The Landcare group receives funding from drumMUSTER for the inspection of eligible empty agvet chemical containers being returned for recycling by farmers and other agvet chemical users.
The Landcare Group have collected more than 68,000 drums in the past six years.
A portion of the funds raised through Landcare’s inspection services will be given to Forbes North Primary School to help sustain the great work they are doing with the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program for the next six months.
The program teaches young children about sustainable gardens and eating healthy foods with outdoor classes ran in the garden with children from Years 1 to 6.
Students plant, grow, cultivate and gather fruit, vegetables, herbs and eggs which they then use in the schools kitchen or take home to their families.
Forbes North Principal Steve McAlister said the school was one of the first in Australia to introduce the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program to their curriculum.
He said the partnership with drumMUSTER will go on to further strengthen the program’s message of sustainability.
“The program is very much entrenched in the science curriculum and has a big emphasis on sustainability and being eco-friendly,” he said.
“This was one of the key reasons we thought the drumMUSTER partnership was a good idea: it underlines the key message of sustainability for the kids.”
Garden Program Teacher Sue-anne Nixon said the program has been running for the past eight years and has helmed the gardening lessons for students for the past year.
She said recycling is a vital aspect of the program’s promotion of sustainability.
“I think drumMUSTER will link in quiet well with the curriculum,” she said.
“We have a recycling program across the school that the kids are heavily involved in. They learn about sustainability through our compost system, worm farm, paper and cardboard recycling.”
Sue-anne said the new partnership with drumMUSTER and Landcare will also help support running the program.
“The funds will go to a new rain water tank that would be attached to the kitchen,” she said. “We want to harness water from the kitchen roof to use in the garden. Then we would like to expand the orchard so we can grow stone fruit,” she said.
drumMUSTER National Program Manager Allan McGann said the partnership was the first step in a broader project to include the drumMUSTER and ChemClear stewardship programs into the national curriculum.
“This pilot program will enable drumMUSTER to support a program at primary school level. It’s amazing to see what these kids are learning in the outdoor classrooms in relation to planting, growing, recycling and preparing food. These kids are possibly the next generation of Australian farmers,” he said.
“We encourage farmers and other agvet chemical users around Forbes to round their drums up and bring them to the drumMUSTER collection to help support the ongoing sustainability of this wonderful program that teaches them the processes of agriculture from paddock to plate.”
The Forbes Urban Landcare drumMUSTER site can be found at 105 Sam Street.
Collections are held on the second and last Fridays of each month between 9am and 12pm. Bookings are required and can be made on (02) 6852 1488.
Remember to rinse all drums. Pierce metal drums to allow for better air-flow after rinsing. Plastic drums also need to have their lids off before delivering.
Since 1999, drumMUSTER has collected more than 22 million drums nation-wide. That represents more than 27,000 tonnes of waste avoiding landfill.
For further information on the drumMUSTER program, call 1800 008 707 .
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1. Garden.
