Resource Usage and Sustainability at Eltham North Primary School

This essay provides an in-depth analysis of resource usage and sustainability practices at Eltham North Primary School. It begins with an introduction that highlights the importance of effective resource management for organizational success and then provides an overview of the school's context, including its stakeholders and sustainability initiatives. The essay then defines sustainability and explores economic, social, and environmental concerns related to resource consumption within the school. Economic concerns include fluctuating economic conditions, understaffing, and the costs associated with implementing sustainable practices. Social concerns involve diversity and its impact on resource management practices. Environmental concerns are related to high water and energy consumption, and waste management issues. The essay proposes mitigation strategies, such as energy reduction, waste management, and educational programs, to address these concerns. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of mitigation procedures to ensure the continuity of workplace operations.

Running Head: Resource Usage 1
Resource Usage in a Professional Workplace
Name of Student
Name of Institution
Name of Course
Date of Submission

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Introduction
The extent to which an organization succeeds depends on the precision with which the
available resources are managed (Austin & Bartunek, 2014). In this essay resource usage in a
primary shall be explored. Through review of appropriate literature the essay shall analyze
resource usage and sustainability aspects at Eltham North Primary School. The argument shall
also seek to reveal the key sustainability concerns within the institution from an environmental,
social and economic point of view. Consequently, responses to these concerns shall be
highlighted in a bid to enhance and achieve sustainability.
Schools form a large portion of the population in any demographic region with
comprehensive resource usage. As noted by Rickinson, Hall & Reid (2016), there as an
inevitable need for schools in conjunction with all the stakeholders to install appropriate
sustainability approaches which in turn enhances responsibility with regard to resource usage. In
order to achieve this, learners at the primary school level can be imparted with knowledge on
climate change, biodiversity and resource usage. Such approaches equip them with the necessary
skills for responsible future behaviors. Controlled resource usage is therefore a core function of
resource sustainability management.

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Overview
Eltham North Primary School is situated in the Suburbs of Melbourne. The school which
has a population of approximately 600 students has consistently had its stakeholders take part in
activities aimed at controlled resource usage. The key stakeholders in the school are the learners,
teachers and the surrounding community. Each of these parties have held hands in a bid to
integrate controlled resource consumptions by learning and applying environmentally friendly
approaches in finding solutions to daily challenges within the school (Simovska & McNamara,
2016). As a measure to enhance sustainability, the school in conjunction with the relevant
stakeholders has consistently worked on reducing carbon and water footprints by promoting
sustainable practice both through community social responsibility and through participation in
extracurricular activities.
Definition
According to The United nations’ Report of the World Commission on Environment and
Development in 1997, sustainability involves addressing our present needs without necessarily
compromising our future well-being. Based on the Australian Curriculum, sustainability is
defined as the process of addressing the ongoing capacity of the earth in a bid to maintain life.
These definitions clearly bring out the correlation between controlled resource usage and
the well-being of human existence. The descriptions above tend to highlight the fact that in one
way or the other, human life and their well-being on the surface of the earth is largely pegged on
the mode in which the resources at their disposal are utilized. Climate change is noted as one of
the major sustainability concerns especially in Australia (Hill & Dyment, 2016). This could be
attributed to a myriad human activities and industrialization. Activities such as mining and

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uneven disposal of wastes jeopardize the quality of the environment and its elements which leads
to inconsistent climatic conditions some which are not favorable for human existence and other
productive activities such as agriculture. Consequently, there is need to impart learners at the
preliminary levels of education with the right skills which would enable them exercise
responsible resource utilization in order to enhance sustainability. In line with the overview
above, this essay shall seek to explore the environmental, social and economic concerns related
to sustainable resource consumption before recommending appropriate mitigation strategies to
curb such challenges.
Sustainability concerns
Economic concerns
The economic status of the country has an essential role in influencing the level of
resource distribution in major sectors such as health and industrialization. Australian economy
continues to fluctuate every new day as a result of other social and political factors. This has
hindered the equitable distribution of resources in various public learning facilities across the
country. Due to the dynamic nature of the country’s economy, some schools especially in the
rural areas remain understaffed leading to an unfavorable student teacher ratio (Collings &
Wood, 2009). The few teachers against the huge work load find it hard to adequately engage the
learners in sustainable resource consumption practices.
Due to the minimal resources in schools, students and teachers at times endure hard times
while trying to use what is within their reach to address dire situations. For instance, inadequate
facilities, equipment and required finances at ENPS largely hinders the school from achieving its
zero waste policy as this procedure calls for measures which require costs. Additionally,

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acquiring and promoting the use of use of alternative energy source and energy saving equipment
are costly ventures which may not be possible unless the school has a strong economic backing.
Finally, managing the vegetable garden in addition to other sustainability based practices require
an amount of the school’s budget. These are major obstacles towards the holistic achievement of
the schools objectives.
Social concerns
Resource usage at ENPS can also be influence by social factors depending on the extent
to which these factors define the professional environment. One of the core sustainability
concerns with respect to social perspectives is the aspect of diversity both at the institution and in
the immediate society. Without a collective effort, it becomes hard for the school leadership to
oversee responsible consumption of both local and natural resources. A diverse environment
arises as a result of differences in age, level of education, gender and cultural orientations just to
mention but few. These differences therefore influence both individual and cooperate views with
regard to sustainability approaches (Dubin, 2009). While an individual may believe in
improvisation and careful use of resources within the school, others may never be keen enough
on the need for resource conservation as a way of enhancing sustainability. These variations
resulting from varied social perspectives may make it hard for the school management as well as
the relevant stakeholders to streamline procedures and ensure effective implementation of
sustainability strategies.
Additionally, there are a myriad other social aspects which in turn influence the
childrens’ reception of ideas and knowledge on sustainability and related practices. In a situation
where the learners’ social background and environment lays no emphasis on responsible resource

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consumption, their reception of knowledge on the same is likely to be influenced in a manner
that acts as an obstacle to the implementation processes.
Environmental concerns
To achieve sustainability, there is need for the school to incorporate measures that
involved reduced energy consumption. Some of these approaches involve the use of machines
whose usage also lead to environmental pollution. The school has a large population with a good
number of teachers and facilities such as classrooms, toilets, science laboratory and computer
laboratory. This implies that there is increased water consumption which is a major
environmental concern. At the same time, the school lacks an effective policy on food and paper
waste management (Green & Somerville, 2015). Despite the measures put in place to minimize
poor waste disposal, this issue remains a major concern to the school management. Other
environmental factors such as infrastructure and inconsistent climatic conditions could also be
highlighted as challenges to the effective implementation of sustainability based practices.
Improving sustainability and implementing measures
One of the most effective approach the school could apply in order to contain the
environmental challenges is by reducing energy consumption. The school can achieve this by
conducting an energy audit before installing energy efficient CF lights. Other measures here
would include turning off the lights when they are not in use, monitoring the thermostat and
controlling the heating and cooling systems, using alternative sources such as solar panels and
also by using the computers, printers and coolers in a responsible manner (Izadpanahi, Elkadi, &
Tucker, 2017).

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On the other hand, the social and economic concerns can be managed by reducing lunch
waste in addition to promoting re use and recycle practices. This strategy involves exposing the
learners on the need for responsible waste disposal and recycling approaches in a bid to
minimize wastage. The students can also be encouraged to use papers in an economic way. This
process ought to be closely monitored by the teachers and student leaders to ensure proper
implementation (Sharma-Brymer & Bland, 2016). In a bid to promote the right notions on
sustainability, the students can be engaged in conservation programs such as gardening and
wildlife watching. This creates a positive reception among the learners which gives way for
successful implementation of sustainability objectives.
Conclusion
Based on the arguments above, it is a fact worth noting that resource availability and
usage affect the progress and general output of an organization. The facilities as well as the
assets available within the school influence the quality of services that can be offered in such
places. The economic, social and environmental perspectives further highlight some of the
elements which hinder the achievement of sustainability practices within the school. In a bid to
ensure continuity in the professional place of work, there is need for the installation of effective
mitigation procedures. In addition to the measures outlined above other points of note would be
government efforts to ensure equitable resource distribution, improvement of infrastructure and
staff training and explore on appropriate resource usage in the relevant organizations.

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References
Austin, J. & Bartunek, J. (2014). Theories and Practice of Organization Development.
Handbook of Psychology, 12(1), pp. 309-332.
Collings, D. & Wood, G. (2009). Human resource management: A critical approach. Human
resource management: 2(1), pp. 1-16
Dubin, R. (2009). The World of Work: Industrial Society and Human Relations. Englewood
Cliffs: Palgrave.
Green, M., & Somerville, M. (2015). Sustainability education: Researching practice in primary
schools. Environmental Education Research, 21(6), 832-845.
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.
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.
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.
Simovska, V., & McNamara, P. (2016). Schools for health and Sustainability. Springer.

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