Friday, November 8, 2024

It’s estimated each school discards at least 100kg of uniforms a year. Here’s what this school did with theirs

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When Belair Public School in Newcastle decided to update its uniform last year, it was determined to stop its students’ old uniforms ending up in landfill.

What started as a simple enough plan resulted in hundreds of new and pre-loved uniforms being transported more than 3,000 kilometres through cyclonic weather to benefit children in Fiji.

Belair Public School’s relieving principal Sarah Jardine said they were forced to get creative to find a solution for what to do with the piles of old uniforms. 

“As more families moved to the new uniforms we were left with a surplus of our old uniform,” she said.

School uniforms comprise a large amount of Australia’s textile waste.

Textile recycling group Worn Up estimates each Australian school discards between 100 and 200 kilograms of non-wearable uniforms per year.

Two Belair Public School students holding up the school’s old uniforms. (ABC Newcastle: Keely Johnson)

Belair parent Lindsay Wachs, who volunteers at the school’s uniform shop, said she was determined to find a use for the clothes.

“I had heard that there were companies that do donations to [developing] countries,” she said.

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