Canowindra Public School has been selected from over a thousand applicants to be a recipient of a Woolworths Junior Landcare Grant of $900, as part of the supermarkets’ commitment to grow the next generation of environmental champions.
The Woolworths Junior Landcare Grants program aims to inspire students with hands-on projects focusing on sustainable food production, improving waste management practices and enhancing native habitats.
The program is being funded with proceeds from the sale of the Woolworths ‘Bag for good’. Woolworths will be providing up to half a million dollars in grants to more than 500 schools nationally during this first round of the program.
The local grant will mean Canowindra Public School are now able to develop their proposed project. The proposed project was put together by students Emily Bullock and Harvey Gordon from Mrs Pearce’s Year 1/ 2 class.
“Our aim is to improve the existing vegetable garden area and create new spaces to grow interesting and diverse edible new plants,” said Mrs Pearce.
The plan is to create a Bush Tucker Garden that can be used in conjunction with the existing vegetable garden. The school already runs the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden lessons for all classes, from Kindergarten to Year 6. This garden area will be fully developed by the students and used by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Group who have yarning group meetings and need an area to use.
Woolworths Cabonne and Cowra Store Manager, Stephen Burns said; “We’re so proud and excited to see the funds raised from our ‘Bag for good’ going directly into our local community through the Woolworths Junior Landcare Grants program.
“We are inspired by the students at Canowindra Public School who are playing an active role in ensuring a greener future for our community and can’t wait to see their project come to life.”
“In partnership with our local customers, we can continue to empower this next generation of school students to work towards a more sustainable Australia.”
Landcare Australia CEO, Dr Shane Norrish said; “This fantastic response shows the community’s passion for caring for the environment. Junior Landcare offers opportunities for sharing knowledge, developing skills and creating experiences that foster connections with the environment and community from childhood to adulthood.”
“This project by Canowindra Public School is highly deserving and we look forward to the students getting hands-on experience and making a difference to their local environment.”
The reusable Woolworths ‘Bag for good’ was launched on June 20 last year, when the supermarket removed single-use plastic shopping bags across all stores nationwide.
Since the move, Woolworths has since taken more than two billion single use plastic bags out of circulation nationwide.