Gruen, Gruen, Gruen…

There is a German children’s song about colours that starts, “Gruen, gruen, gruen, sind alle meine Kleider; Gruen, gruen, gruen, ist alles was ich hab.”  (You can enjoy hearing it by clicking here.)

Well at Spielwelt, we love being green too!

This post celebrates and acknowledges what we have done to date to be GREEN, and let’s you know what is next on our agenda.

To date, we have:

1. upgraded all our lighting to LED
2. upgraded our heating systems from hideously inefficient old heaters to fabulously efficient reverse cycle heaters
3. programmed those heaters to switch off at regular intervals 4 times a day, in order to make sure they are not left on accidentally
4. installed 6 panels of solar space heating on our roof, and provided personalised tours and information to other groups and individuals about this technology
5. with help from LAROS Technologies in Fyshwick, we replaced our drafty old ill-fitting windows with wonderful new triple-glazed windows
6. had an ACT Smart audit done and successfully applied for a grant, which we used for some of the audit recommendations
7. installed that sticky fluffy stuff around door frames to prevent heat loss
8. checked our big appliances for efficiency ratings (and replaced them where necessary)
9. teach children in our playschool program about recycling
10. we collect food scraps for chickens and composting
11. introduced the Terracycle coffee capsule recycling program
12. put up signage around the hall to remind staff about turning off lights and heaters
13. our staff are trained that if they turn the heater or air conditioner on, they are to put the heater remote control with their car keys or bike lock keys, so that when they go home, the person is automatically reminded about turning off the heaters/air conditioning
14. we encouraged our scouts to use recycled building materials to design and install a way to move warm air down from the ceiling area and onto ground level where our younger children play (that was a really fun project!)
15. we had heavy curtains made to section off areas of our scout hall we don’t need to heat
16. we have double doors between our heated areas and our outside doors, to cut down on heat loss in winter or heat ingress in summer
17. check our electrical appliances each year to make sure they are not faulty and draining more energy than they should
18. undertaken a study to see if solar energy would be feasible for us
19. we have a 1000 litre rain water tank which is plumbed to our toilets
20. we only use instant hot water, rather than trying to maintain large quantities of hot water for long periods of time
21. we have recyling bins inside and outside, and educate the children in our programs about how to use these
22. we talk to children and parents about reducing waste in packed lunches
23. new toilets installed with half-flush
24. installed new quarter-turn taps that are easy for young children to turn off fully
25. our chldren’s programs use recycled supplies wherever possible for their art and other activities; and we have banned glitter (micro-plastics)
26. we shun plastic toys where possible, in favour of wood or nothing (it is okay to not have things!)
27. our teachers have all been given reusable coffee cups and a carry bag for them
28. we use non-toxic cleaning products whenever possible
29. we sorted our library of over 1000 childrens books and gave many away for free into the community (re-use)
30. gave away some board games to the Buy Nothing Facebook group members in our local area
31. our default superannuation fund is Australian Ethical Super, who support green technologies

… and finally…

32. we have a whole lot of fun thinking up new ways to stretch ourselves and the children in our programs to be and think cleaner and greener!

Next steps?  Soft plastics!   We will be aiming to reduce our use, helping families to reduce their use, and recycling soft plastics through the Redcycle program.

Want to get involved and help us be greener? Get in touch!  Just email  ask.us@spielwelt.org.au