Sustainability
Scouts Tackle Waste Crisis at 2020 Plastics Summit
Earlier this year, 14 Scouts headed to Canberra for the National Plastics Summit – the first government convention to help tackle our plastic crisis.
In late January 2020, the Federal Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment offered an opportunity for some of our members to join the upcoming national Plastic Summit. Held at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday 2 March 2020, the event brought together 200 leaders from industry, government and the community to tackle the plastic waste crisis.
In line with the 17th Sustainable Development Goal (Partnerships for the SDGs), we’re always looking out for ways that Scouting can collaborate with others to tackle the SDGs. This opportunity is just one of many ways Scouts are delivering on #SDG17. We were overwhelmed by the response, with almost 100 older primary-aged Scouts applying for one of the places at the Summit.
Thanks to generous Government support, we were pleased to offer fully funded places for 14 youth members and a parent/guardians, who came from a variety of metropolitan, regional and remote areas across the country. They were:
- New South Wales: Reese Mexon & Cobalt Walsh
- Northern Territory: Matilda Woolley & Lucy Williamson
- Queensland: Stella Leslie & Jordi Turner
- South Australia: Colby Ind & Hamish Avery
- Tasmania: Cohen Bak & Lilith Fleming
- Victoria: Isaac Busuttil & Pippa Symes
- Western Australia: Raveen Andrews & Lizzie Ducie
They flew into Canberra the night before, then had a very busy day at Parliament House and the Museum of Australian Democracy learning more about the issues and discussing potential solutions. During the middle of the Summit they joined six other young people, including students from ACT/NSW for the Children’s Summit, where they met with with the Governor-General (and Chief Scout) of Australia, His Excellency David Hurley and Mrs Hurley (both passionate supporters of Scouting).
To finish off the day, the youth members were met at the front of Parliament House by two members from ACT, Sorrel Fuller (a Rover Scout and Australian Contingent Leader to World Moot Ireland 2021) and Calista Beck (ACT Assistant Chief Commissioner – Youth Program Support). Sorrel and Calista are both passionate about the SDGs, and presented a Scouts Australia supporters scarf to the Scouts who participated in the Plastic Summit to recognise their commitment.
As the Scouts headed back to their hometowns, they take with them the ideas they shared at the Summit and the new friendships and connections they have made. We hope to see them continue their momentum as #Scouts4SDGs, delivering initiatives with their Scout groups and communities to tackle the plastic waste crisis, as well as wider efforts to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals.
We will share their future efforts through social media (our Facebook page and Instagram), and hope to see you joining them in the effort. As with any projects you do as a #Scouts4SDG or Messenger of Peace, don’t forget to record it via the ‘share your project’ link on the #Scouts4SDGs website.
As a result of my participation, I feel excited about taking action to encourage others to reduce their plastic waste. I am going try and get recycling bins at school, ban plastic straws and plastic water bottles at the canteen, and have a waste free Wednesday. I am also going to write to Mr Alan Joyce at Qantas about the amount of plastic packaging that was around our afternoon tea on the plane on the way home.
