Grammar goes green

By LUCY BODE.

Pulteney Grammar School has initiated an annual Clean Up the Park Day as a part of the national Clean Up Australia Day campaign.

Both Junior and Middle School students will spend an afternoon in the Adelaide Parklands, collecting rubbish and debris as part of the schools Conservation Corps.

Christina Jarvis, Head of the Pulteney Conservation Corps Society, has said the afternoon will be a great way for the school to contribute to Clean Up Australia Day.

“Clean up the Park Day is a way for us to thank the Parklands for being such a great space to play in, and is also a great way to demonstrate our environmental service,” she said.

“The activity provides simple but authentic leadership opportunities for students of the school, allowing them to show initiative and increasing their desire to be active and involved in cleaning up Australia.

“I want our students to be able to pat themselves on the back for making a difference to the environment and the world we live in.”

Although the school’s efforts come more than a month after the official Cleanup Australia daythe enthusiasm and commitment shown by the students has not diminished.

Conservation Corps Leader, Sam Tasker, was charged with informing and inspiring his Year 7 peers to participate in the day, telling them that even the smallest contribution can make a difference.

“We have the opportunity to show we care for the environment, and take pride in our local neighbourhood,” he said.

“By cleaning up the Parklands, we can set an example to the wider community that cleaning up our country doesn’t have to be isolated to one day, but should become a habit for all of us.”

Clean Up Australia Day is in its 22^nd year and proving to be a very successful campaign.

Since it began in 1990, volunteers have collected more than 253,699 tonnes of rubbish from sites right across Australia.

In 2012 alone, over 2600 schools nationwide registered to clean up their local community.

Ian Kiernan, executive chairman and founder of Clean Up Australia Day, said this kind of mass participation is central to the role that schools must have in the day.

“Taking part in Schools Clean Up Day can be a lot of fun for school communities while also providing some valuable lessons about how litter and rubbish impacts on our parks and waterways,” he said.

“Our children also have the ability to make their parents take more care of their local parks, play areas, waterways and beaches to preserve them for our children’s future.”

Pulteney Grammar School’s Clean Up the Park Day will take place on June 15 in the Adelaide Parklands.

Photo courtesy of Clean Up Australia.