Eco-Sustainable Schools

Last Wave Eco-Sustainable Schools is not a hit and run program to help your school with a one off project. By joining the Last Wave community you will access the support required to guide the whole school community through to full sustainability. Through the services of Last Wave and partnerships with a variety of government and business agencies, your school will minimize its ecological footprint within a few short years at the minimum possible cost.

Online Communities

Last Wave provides your school with with a platform for you to create your own online communities. These can be used for out of hours staff meetings, Parents and Citizens meetings, homework groups among students and coordinating Eco-Sustainable Schools projects, just to name a few. The school which creates the most flourishing online community within the shortest space of time will receive a complete sustainable refit at no cost at all. This will be assessed from the time your school first becomes aware of the program. The criteria will be weighted according to a schools population and income, to remove any unfair advantages. This criteria will also determine the sequencing of the program between schools. The cut off date will be determined when Last Wave Eco-Sustainable Schools considers all schools should have become aware of the program. To prevent delays in the program, these awards will include the donation by Last Wave of an equivalent amount expended by the school on its own sustainability. In this regard schools should keep a record of any contributions from its community. Including in-kind contributions not received through Last Wave Eco-Sustainable Schools.

Sustainability Audits

To discover the size of our schools ecological footprint we must begin by calculating what resources we currently consume. We can then plan the most appropriate solutions to reduce, reuse and recycle those resources to minimize our impact on the Earth. Australia's sustainability index is 7.6 hectares per person, we can expect a similar figure. Global carrying capacity is 1.8; if everyone lived as we do, we would need four planet Earth's to provide for us. We can reduce our ecological footprint without effecting our standard of living. In fact, we can make it fun. The whole school can be involved in the audit and teachers will be supplied with lesson plans to make this happen.

School Environmental Management Plans

With the results of a sustainability audit, the objectives of the school community and specific site requirements in mind, we can proceed to the design of the School Environmental Management Plan. This will be our guide on the path to sustainability over the next few years, highlighting the types and timing of projects.

Grant Applications and Donations

Last Wave Eco-Sustainable Schools will write all appropriate grant applications for you. There are a number out there to be had apart from the obvious. Donations from individuals and companies will also be raised on your behalf as part of this program. These measures are intended to cover the majority of the projected budget arising out of the S.E.M.P.

Curriculum Development and Teacher Training

Last Wave Eco-Sustainable Schools will develop class programs, teaching materials and teacher in-service training specific to your School Environmental Management Plan. Students, teachers and parents will be able to follow these developments as well as the progress of the school towards full sustainability and access more general resources within the Last Wave community site.

Capital Creation

A key element of this program is capital creation. Using a sustainable economic model we recognize multiple forms of capital; physical capital (energy, water and waste management infrastructure), financial capital (money), natural capital (bio-diversity) and social capital (people, community). Only a system that recognizes the interconnected and mutually supporting features of these elements can be considered sustainable. As part of our capital creation program we will consider such things as soil improvement, food production, installation of rainwater tanks and greywater recycling systems, energy production and the use of sustainable building materials and building techniques for any necessary construction.

School Governance

Governance cannot be left out of the sustainability equation. No institution can be considered sustainable if it uses autocratic management practices. Management theory has come a long way since the 19th century. It is recognized we can make any changes we like but, if people do not experience some ownership of the process it will fail and the institution will not prosper. As part of this process we will consider the principles of sustainable management and build organizational capacity for change.

Organic Markets

Schools will have the option of hosting regular organic produce markets. This is strongly recommended as it will assist in community building, promote sustainability to the general public and provide an ongoing source of school funding.