In June ABC News reported on a FOGO truck making a special visit to students at the East Derwent Primary School to celebrate stu­dent’s efforts of diverting unwant­ed food scraps away from regular rubbish bins into FOGO caddies. Passionate students of the school’s dedicated ‘Environment Club’ were interviewed as part of the report, and it was found that some stu­dents were even putting peer pres­sure on others not to litter! Some lucky students got an official tour of the truck and saw the cameras used for road safety and to capture pictures of FOGO contamination.

The truck also made a visit to St Paul’s Catholic School and Gage­brook Primary.

Brighton Council runs a schools Waste Wise program, teaching stu­dents all about becoming sustain­ability champions and the benefits of the FOGO service diverting organic waste from landfill. FOGO collects all types of organic waste, whether it be food scraps, lawn clippings, twigs, leaves, or soil, and is taken to a composting facility outside of Hobart where it is trans­formed into high quality compost.

Green waste may not sound hazardous, but when it ends up in regular garbage bins instead of compost it can turn landfill sites into greenhouse gas hotspots. The Brighton Council introduced a FOGO service late last year and is free for schools.