As the school year kicks off, families in Victoria face the annual back-to-school spending spree. According to the Australian Retailers Association, Aussies spent a whopping $2.5 billion on back-to-school purchases last year. The big-ticket items? Stationery, school uniforms, footwear, books, and those ever-important lunchboxes and water bottles.
Nearly one in 10 families toss out school supplies that are still in good condition. This not only increases waste but also hits the family budget.
Parents can save money and reduce waste by buying second-hand uniforms, reusing lunchboxes and drink bottles with simple upgrades like new stickers, and adding fresh badges or patches to backpacks. When it comes to stationery, sustainable options may sometimes be harder to find, but schools can play a key role in implementing new processes that significantly reduce waste and make a meaningful impact.
Project Stationery, a Melbourne-based initiative founded by teacher Amelia Trompf and ex-teacher Brigitte Belleville, is working to tackle stationery waste in schools. The program collects surplus supplies, sorts, and redistributes used stationery. In its pilot run, Project Stationery rehomed over 41,000 items across 23 schools.
‘The one that really shocked me the most was the 7,937 used and unused exercise books which were [donated] from only 400 families from 10 schools,’ revealed Amelia.
She highlighted the bigger problem: ‘Essentially, the issue is that too much stationery is ordered, and then at the end of the year, people don’t know what to do with it.’ Amelia further explained that schools which order new stationery each year and then send the so-called ‘old’ stationery home with students end up creating the most waste.
‘We know that stationery ordering happens at the end of the year when everyone is exhausted,’ she said. ‘It’s a difficult time to create change, and stationery waste ends up being somewhat invisible, often either sent home or discarded in the school skip.’
Sustainability Victoria partnered with Project Stationery last year to help educate Victorian teachers about the impacts of stationery waste and changes they can make at their school. Our ResourceSmart Schools program has helped more than 1,600 schools in Victoria save over $68 million on bills, divert 170,000 cubic metres of waste from landfill, and plant over 5 million trees.
We’ve compiled our top tips for schools to reduce stationery waste.
Top tips for schools to reduce stationery waste
- Avoid pre-labelling: Don’t label books and scrapbooks with students’ names unless the label can be easily removed. Only name items when they’re definitely going to be used.
- Conduct stationery audits: Before ordering supplies for the next year, conduct an audit to see what can be reused and avoid over-ordering.
- Stationery drives: Organise a stationery drive to collect surplus items to be revived and reused.
- Manage stationery purchases centrally:
Instead of asking parents to purchase book packs or using third-party providers, when schools manage the ordering process themselves stationery waste is significantly lower. - Use communal stationery: Some schools provide communal supplies for shared use, which reduces the need for individual items.
- Refillable whiteboard markers: Opt for refillable whiteboard markers instead of disposable ones.
Reducing stationery waste isn’t just an environmental issue – it’s also a financial one. By reusing supplies, ordering wisely, and promoting sustainable practices, families and schools can make a real difference. As Amelia puts it, ‘If we’re going to create a circular economy in Victoria, we need a culture of reuse, not a throwaway one.’
Sustainability Victoria’s ResourceSmart Schools program is a great way for schools to start building a more sustainable future. And by supporting initiatives like Project Stationery, we can all work together to reduce waste, save money, and create lasting positive change for our communities.
To get the latest news from our Education Team, including our free and informative After the Bell event series, sign up to our newsletter.
