Student Worksheet

Imagine that you work for a company that runs an eco-resort on a small island in the Pacific. The eco-resort has just won a prestigious award for its management of waste. You will be asked to give a short presentation about why you won this award – about the system, your role in the planning, any problems you experienced, how these were overcome, the successes of your system and why you think your system was so successful.

In this activity you are asked to create a presentation that talks about your award winning waste management system. Use the information below to give some more context and guidance for this activity:

Some general background

Small island communities, generate waste, just like any other community. Some of these waste materials, such as food and garden waste, can be dealt with on the island. However, other materials that can be recycled, such as bottles, cans, paper, cardboard and batteries, may need to be transported off the island to the mainland. Materials that cannot be either composted on the island or sent to the mainland for recycling, will have to be disposed of in some way. Some of the options available to dispose of rubbish are burning it on open headlands, burning it in special incinerators, burning the rubbish and recovering energy for electricity, burial in landfill sites and transport to the mainland.

On islands that are popular for the quality of the natural environment, any waste must be dealt with in a way that will not harm the island itself, plants and wildlife, its beaches, airways or the surrounding ocean.

Your brief

It is the year 2020. You and your team work for a company that runs an eco-resort on a small island, 50 km off the coast of Queensland.

The island has a total of 10 hotels, motels, B&Bs and resorts. At any one time, about 500 visitors can be staying in these accommodation venues. Your resort can cater for 100 guests a night.

Your team has just won a prestigious award for the waste management plan for the eco-resort. According to the Award judges “Your team introduced a very efficient system for sorting the waste at the eco-centre. Your team has managed to reduce the amount of rubbish that had to be sent to landfill on the mainland by an astonishing 90%. These measures have saved your company $50,000 per year since it was introduced.”

Your team has been asked to give a presentation about your great success story. You have been asked to speak about what you have achieved, why you did this, some of the barriers you faced, how you overcame these barriers, your role, the benefits of your system and why you think your plan was so successful.

You can give this presentation any way you wish: you could just give a presentation, or you might include diagrams or 3D models to embellish your story.

About the island

The island is a tropical paradise, with tropical rainforest, beautiful sandy beaches and coral reefs. Tourists who come to the island love its natural beauty, abundant wildlife and clean air and water. There are about 500 residents who live full-time on the island, and a transient population of about 500 visitors at any one time.

The island’s environment committee has arranged for the energy needs of the island to be met by solar and wind power. The abundant rainfall, which is captured in stormwater tanks, provides adequate water for the residents and other visitors.

The island is so lush, that many of the fruits and vegetables needed by the residents and visitors are grown on the island. Seafood, which is caught by local fishers, makes up a large part of the diet.

Goods that cannot be grown on the island are imported by ship or plane, on a weekly basis.

About the island's waste system

Disposing of waste in the island has always been a problem. 20 years ago, the island management committee passed a law saying that, in order to protect the natural environment, rubbish could not be either burnt or buried on the island and must be transported by ship to the mainland. These shipping costs are very expensive, but accepted by the local people as part of the cost of living in such a beautiful place.

Two years ago, the island management committee installed a special recycling centre to handle the different waste streams, in order to reduce the amount of waste material that was shipped off the island. This centre included the following features:

A special sorting area where residents can place their different materials - materials for recycling, organic waste and rubbish that cannot be composted or recycled;
Baling machines to squash and strap recyclables – plastic bottles, aluminium and steel cans, paper and cardboard (these bales are then stored until ready for transport to the mainland);
A crushing machine for glass bottles (the crushed glass is used for roads on the island);
A vertical composting unit which accepts all forms of organic waste - meat, fish dairy, fruit, vegetables, garden waste and sewage sludge (the completed compost is then sold to gardeners on the island);
A storage area for special items for recycling - car batteries which are then transported to the mainland; and
Containers to store rubbish in readiness for transport to the mainland.

What you could do

You task is to respond to a scenario that is set in the year 2020. It will require you to think in a visionary way. Imagine that you actually working for a company that has achieved amazing success in reducing its waste. Think about applying what you know about the 4Rs+C (Refuse, Reuse, Recycle plus Composting) to an island setting of the future.

You will need to think through what would have to be done to achieve this massive waste reduction. You will need to consider some of the following areas:

All the food and drinks and other consumables (flowers, computer consumables, photocopy paper, newspapers and magazines and toiletries etc) that will need to be purchased on a regular basis. Where will these be obtained? How would you ensure that these did not have unnecessary packaging that may lead to rubbish.
All the things to equip the resort – bedding, furniture, cooking utensils, crockery cutlery, computer equipment, towels, decorations. How would you ensure that all these goods will be long-lasting and not need replacing too often.
All the things needed to maintain the resort – garden tools, maintenance tools, paint, etc.
How you would encourage the other staff to help you plan and support a low waste plan.
The 4RS+C system for your resort: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Compost (for each important area of the resort – kitchens and dining rooms, bedrooms, recreation rooms, maintenance and gardens).
The system you would set up so that staff and your customers could easily sort their waste into different waste steams.
How you would encourage your customers at the resort to sort their waste using the system that you have set up.
How you would measure the amount of waste produced for different waste steams: recyclables, compost, rubbish.

Your presentation

Include the following information in your presentation:

What you have achieved;
Why you did this (e.g. because you were told to, the boss wanted to save money);
Some of the barriers you faced (e.g. convincing your boss, engaging with your customers, convincing other workers);
How you overcame these barriers (your creative solutions);
Your role in the planning and implementation of the system;
The benefits of your system (e.g. cost savings, increase in customers, marketing opportunities);
Why you think your plan was so successful.
Feel free to be creative. Use whatever medium you like to convey your “success" to your audience – diagrams photos, drawings, models.
Discuss the length of your presentation with your teacher.

Reflection questions

What have you learnt from the activity about the way island communities must deal with its solid waste?

How effective was your presentation in communicating the story of how to minimise waste in a small island community? How do you know this?

What worked well about the presentation? How would you improve your presentation if you were to repeat the activity?

Design an island eco-resort waste system

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