Students in clean-up lead

Students, back, Davina, Anida, front, Evran and Michael clean up their school yard. 150676 Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS

SCHOOL was a load of rubbish at Yarraman Oaks Primary on Friday 4 March.
Students from all year levels took part in Clean Up Australia Day, turning tongs and gloves to Fotheringham Reserve in Dandenong, Oakwood Park in Noble Park North and their Noble Park school yard.
Grade 3/4 teacher Janelle Strain said the school ran an environment group with a focus on sustainability.
They recently took an excursion to Replas in Carrum Downs, which turns used plastic into useful products, and learned about the harm rubbish could cause to wildlife.
“We’ve done some work also on rubbish in the ocean,” Ms Strain said.
Greater Dandenong Council performed a waste audit at the school.
“The kids have been involved,” she said.
“They’re really passionate about it so we’re just trying to harness that.”

Grade 4 students wrote persuasive texts about why people should participate in Clean Up Australia Day:
I REALLY think everybody should be part of Clean Up Australia Day because we don’t want our planet Earth to be covered in rubbish.
My first reason is that lots of people love animals and lots of them are dead because of rubbish.
I calculated that around about 47,304,000,000 plastic bottles are getting littered every year. So that is a lot of plastic bottles getting littered!
The third reason I thought of is that Clean Up Australia Day is a great time to clean up our wonderful Australia.
– Jamie Schmidt
THE first reason I think you should participate in Clean Up Australia Day is so you can help save sea creatures like turtles, seagulls and many more.
Rubbish can look like food to sea creatures and sometimes they get tangled in them and die.
Another reason I think you should participate in Clean Up Australia Day is so we can stop putting useful stuff in landfill and recycle them so we can keep the Earth clean and so there is less rubbish around Australia.
The third reason I think we should participate in Clean Up Australia Day is so we can breathe fresh air and not pollution because that can make people sick.
Another reason we should participate in Clean Up Australia Day is so we can stop bushfires because plastic or glass can cause bushfires. I think.
The last reason why I think we should participate in Clean Up Australia Day is so other people can stop picking other people’s rubbish up.
– Anida Jukic
FIRSTLY, I think you should participate in Clean Up Australia Day because you would be helping clean up our environment and prevent making pollution.
Secondly, you would be making the Earth healthy by cleaning up rubbish.
Thirdly, you would be stopping rubbish getting out into the ocean and harming or killing the sea creatures.
Last but not least, you would be making Australia look the best it can look by cleaning up Australia.
So I think you should participate in Clean Up Australia Day! I HOPE YOU AGREE!
– Methuli Arachchige