Parents and teachers fight waste at yearly festival

At Fitzroy North Primary School in Melbourne, a few simple switches at their high-profile annual school fete made a big difference in reducing plastic waste.

Parents and teachers teamed up to replace hundreds of single-use plastic cups with reusable ones, and provided free water stations to remove the need for bottled water.

Planning makes Perfect

In 2024, teachers and parents decided to tackle the way their school community thought about waste. They formed a dedicated sustainability team to look for simple ways to reduce landfill, , make it easier for others to get involved, and connect their community to the cause. By early 2025, they had planned out a journey to eliminate waste at the school’s upcoming annual fete.

The fete is the school’s largest fundraiser, generating tens of thousands of dollars and spanning over six hours of festivities. Thousands of attendees participate, not only from the school, but from the wider community of Fitzroy North.

Being such a much-loved and visible event, making changes felt like a big step, but also a great opportunity to try something new.

Collaboration is key

First, they drew inspiration from a variety of similar organisations within Melbourne’s inner north, who had achieved spectacular results for their own schools.

The Sustainability Team communicated closely with the fete’s organisers, and had a representative on the Fete Committee in order to coordinate with stall leaders.

Reuse and Refill

One of the most impactful changes came from rethinking drinks.

The fete’s bar was stocked with reusable cups, supported by a City of Yarra grant. Over 600 drinks were served without disposable cups, avoiding 4.8kg of landfill and around two wheelie bins worth of waste.

The team also removed single-use bottled water entirely from the fete, by offering free refill stations instead. This not only reduced plastic waste, but made it easier and cheaper for attendees and stallholders.

Focusing on waste separation

Bins were converted into waste sorting stations, with clear signage to separate the waste stream into five categories (landfill, recycling, food waste, returnable containers, and reusable cups). Inspired students volunteered as ‘bin fairies,’ informing and guiding the community. Overall, this streamlined process resulted in a 38% reduction of total landfill from the fete. Over 582 returnable containers were put into the Container Deposit Scheme, turning the school’s small cost of $63 into a net benefit of $122.

Among their many other successes, the team:

• diverted 7.2kg of soft plastic from landfill to recycling by communicating with stall leaders and providing individual soft-plastic bins to them
• composted 19kg of food waste, using food waste bins from a local circular economy program
• checked what was being thrown away to keep improving

Lower waste options become the norm

What started with a few simple changes quickly became something bigger. The reusable cups, water stations, and cleaner waste systems both reduced plastic waste and helped normalise new habits across the school. From the fete’s organisations to the stall holders, many people found getting involved simple and motivating.

The school prioritised nature-based solutions and reusable alternatives wherever possible, and the team received overwhelmingly positive support from the community at large.