Notre Dame College takes great pride in its sustainability student group, Terra Tomodachi. ‘Terra’ means ‘Earth’ in Italian, and ‘Tomodachi’ means ‘Friends’ in Japanese. The group meets once a fortnight to plan and advance sustainability initiatives, participate in relevant field trips and develop their knowledge of best practice care for the earth. The college has appointed a Sustainability Coordinator and Sustainability Student Leader to guide this group. If you have a passion for sustainability and would like to be more involved in this part of college life, please contact one of our sustainability leaders.
phil.guthrie@notredame.vic.edu.au
Sustainability Coordinator Phil Guthrie has been doing the rounds of house assemblies promoting responsible waste disposal and our dream for a Litter Free College.
Click to watchOur Sustainability Coordinator is supported by our 2023 Sustainability Leader, Mia Dainton.
The Sustainability Leader promotes and gives student voice to sustainability within and beyond the College community. They will also be an active member of Terra Tomadarchi
Responsibilities include:
As of 2020 Notre Dame College has made a commitment to be more sustainable in all management practices throughout the college. To help with this endeavor, the college became part of the ResourceSmart Schools program offered by Sustainability Victoria. The aim of which is to help schools embed sustainability across all facilities, communities, and curriculum and help save resources and money.
Through ResourceSmart the college is committed to progress through the 5 Stars Program and become a Leadership School in sustainability. Each of the 5 Stars has a specific requirement for completion and requires staff and students to undertake initiatives and activities to help achieve common goals.
The main focus of the college throughout 2020-2023 is the Waste Module, with the goal being to help educate the college (staff, students and the community) about waste and how to reduce our landfill as well as the associated costs.
Much has happened:
Our Terra Tomodachi students in conjunction with our gardening team have created a new sustainability garden at the front of the hospitality complex on Knight Street campus, south side.
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