Project Overview 

Woolworths Junior Landcare Grant recipient, University Preschool and Childcare Centre in the ACT, has been working to reduce food wastage and teach children how composting and worm farms can help the environment by managing their waste.

One hundred and twelve children were involved in the project to establish a compost bin and worm farm at the centre. The activities included auditing the food waste by collecting and measuring the waste. Also learning how a compost bin and worm farm could help reduce their waste, this helped the children identify the most suitable site in the playground to set up their project. 

The children maintained the compost bins and worm farms and monitored the food waste to see how much rubbish would normally go to landfill.

Educational Outcomes 

The children learnt why a worm farm and compost bin were important to managing waste and reducing landfill at the Centre and at home, and the benefits to improving the soil in their garden. The children also discussed other ways to be sustainable, how to reduce food waste, and how they can care for the land, such as saving water and electricity, reusing, and recycling. The children also learned about reducing other types of waste, such as plastic, and the impact that plastic products have on waterways and the environment.

Conclusion

The Centre included children of all ages in the compost and worm farm project, and this encouraged discussions with families at home that led to other sustainable practices. The Centre involved the community in the project including local businesses and community groups. The program improved children's behaviour as they were engaged with exciting new outdoor lessons. 

The children enjoyed adding food scraps to compost bins and worm farms each day and learning about the lifecycle of worms. The students' favourite part of the project was when the worms arrived to move into their new home, the children really enjoyed observing and holding the worms.

"Composting and worm farming have been such interesting and important subjects for the children to learn and explore. The hands-on learning experiences makes it more exciting to learn about the process of how food waste can turn into valuable fertilizer for the soil and plants." - Tam, parent.