CUC100: Resource Usage and Sustainability in the Workplace - ENPS

This report focuses on resource usage and sustainability practices within Eltham North Primary School (ENPS). It begins by defining sustainability, referencing the Australian Curriculum and the World Commission on Environment and Development. The report then outlines the school's sustainability concerns, categorizing them into environmental (energy, water, waste, biodiversity), social (responsible resource management, sustainability education), and economic (costs of energy-efficient equipment and sustainability initiatives) aspects. The core of the report proposes solutions to improve sustainability, primarily through energy conservation measures such as energy audits, efficient lighting, and alternative energy sources. It also addresses social and economic impacts by promoting waste reduction, recycling, and student engagement in conservation programs. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of sustainability in addressing climate change and resource depletion, highlighting the role of schools in imparting sustainability knowledge and skills, and promoting sustainable practices within the community, specifically referencing ENPS's successful initiatives and programs.

Resource Usage in
Workplace
Ensuring Sustainability in Eltham
North Primary School
STUDENT’S NAME:
STUDENT ID:
CUC100

Orientation
 Resource usage in workplace
 In focus: Eltham North
Primary School
 Schools in Australia are
putting effort to manage
resource usage and ensure
sustainability through
learning and everyday
practices.

Sustainability: a relevant
definition
 The Australian Curriculum defines sustainability as “addressing
the ongoing capacity of Earth to maintain life” (ACARA, 2013).
 The United nations’ Report of the World Commission on
Environment and Development: Our Common Future (1987)
defines sustainability as meeting the needs of the present
without compromising the well-being of the future.

Thesis statement
 Schools are a large community in a
given demographic region that are
responsible for a comprehensive
amount of resource consumption.
Therefore, a sustainable approach in
their daily activities may lead to
establish a responsible and
sustainable resource usage(Rickinson,
Hall & Reid, 2016). Also, as the
primary stage of learning and
development, kids can be imparted
with the knowledge of sustainability,
biodiversity, climate change and its
relevant measures so that they can
incorporate them in their future
practices and behaviours.

Resource Usage in
School
Overview of scenario & definition
Stakeholders
Students and Teachers
Parents and associated
community
Overview
ENPS tries to reduce carbon and
water footprints and promote
sustainable practices through
extra-curricular practices
Sustainability concerns
Economic
Maintenance and cost-
effectiveness for alternative
energy sources
Promoting energy efficient
equipment may incur more cost
Social
Imparting knowledge and good
practices to children
Managing local and natural
resources responsibly
Environmental
Reducing energy usage
Water consumption
Waste management
How sustainability in this
scenario could be improved
Responses to identified issues
Monitor and control waste
Reducing water and energy
consumption
Promoting biodiversity
conservation through curriculum
and extra-curricular programs
Implementing these responses
Conducting energy audit in
school
Screening and banning wrappers
and plastics in school premises
Use alternative energy source
Control energy consumption in
lights, heating and colloing
systems, computers and gym

Sustainability Concerns at the
School
Environmental
concerns:
 Energy consumption
 Water consumption
 Waste management
 Conservation of
biodiversity

Sustainability Concerns at the
School
Social concerns:
 Managing local and natural
resources responsibly
 Imparting knowledge of
sustainability and
corresponding practices to
children

Sustainability Concerns at the
School
Economic concerns:
 Promoting energy efficient
equipment may incur more cost
 Maintenance for alternative
energy sources also requires
comprehensive investment
 Managing the veggy garden,
Enviro-cooking programs and
other ESD initiatives requires an
amount of the school budget.
 Zero waste policy of the school
consequentially calls for
measures that incur cost.

Improving Sustainability and
implementing measures
Reducing energy consumption is the most effective
way to diminish environmental impact. The school can
achieve that by
 Conducting an energy audit
 Installing energy efficient CFL lights
 Turning of lights when not in use
 Using alternative sources such as solar power
energy for electronic and electrical equipment
 Monitoring the thermostat and controlling the
heating and cooling systems
 Using computers, printers and coolers responsibly
and judiciously
The social and economic impacts can be managed as
the following:
 Reduce lunch waste
 Promote reuse and recycle practices
 Monitor and control paper waste and encourage
students to use papers in an economic way
 Engage students in conservation programs such
as gardening, wildlife watching and projects to
promote the notion of sustainability

Bibliography
 Rickinson, M., Hall, M., & Reid, A. (2016). Sustainable schools programmes:
what influence on schools and how do we know?. Environmental Education
Research, 22(3), 360-389.
 Sharma-Brymer, V., & Bland, D. (2016). Bringing nature to schools to promote
childrenn’s physical activity. Sports Medicine, 46(7), 955-962.
 Izadpanahi, P., Elkadi, H., & Tucker, R. (2017). Greenhouse affect: the
relationship between the sustainable design of schools and children’s
environmental attitudes. Environmental Education Research, 23(7), 901-918.
 Green, M., & Somerville, M. (2015). Sustainability education: Researching
practice in primary schools. Environmental Education Research, 21(6), 832-845.
 Simovska, V., & McNamara, P. (2016). Schools for health and Sustainability.
Springer.
 Hill, A., & Dyment, J. E. (2016). Hopes and prospects for the sustainability cross-
curriculum priority: Provocations from a state-wide case study. Australian Journal
of Environmental Education, 32(3), 225-242.

Conclusion
 In the present global scenario, climate change and resource depletion are the biggest
challenges to be addressed.
 People should be made aware of the importance sustainability
 Schools are the building blocks of learning and child development. Therefore, schools
can take effective roles in imparting the knowledge and skills of sustainability.
 Schools can also engage the parents and the local community in these initiatives and
promote an environment of sustainable practices.
 Besides, schools themselves consume a comprehensive amount of natural resources
that should be used judiciously.
 ENPS has an array of successful sustainability initiatives and teachings in their
curriculum and programs.
 The report of ENPS’s programs can instantiate responsible resource usage in
workplace and bring out further scope to implement the same.

Reference
 E. Dyment, J., Hill, A., & Emery, S.
(2015). Sustainability as a cross-
curricular priority in the
Australian curriculum: A
Tasmanian
investigation. Environmental
Education Research, 21(8), 1105-
1126.
 Rickinson, M., Hall, M., & Reid, A.
(2016). Sustainable schools
programmes: what influence on
schools and how do we
know?. Environmental Education
Research, 22(3), 360-389.
 World Commission on
Environment and Development:
Our Common Future (1987)