Shani

1. Where does your passion for sustainability come from?
   The first time I worked in the hospitality industry, I was astounded by the amount of food waste produced. Around the same time, I started enjoying hiking, and was constantly shocked by the amount of litter found in beautiful natural places. It was down the rabbit hole from there – I try to live my passion for sustainability every day in my work, politics, and personal life.

2. As we ask our students at the beginning of a Composting + Worm Farming incursion session: what is your favourite fruit or vegetable (and what is left over after you finish eating it)?
   Not sure how I could pick between a mango, and a chilli – I have both tattooed on my arm! That mango skin is going straight into my backyard compost!

3. Which module do you enjoy teaching the most (so far), and why?
   Nothing can beat ‘Composting + Worm Farming’ for me – handing out live worms to students is such a fun experience for everyone involved, not to mention that the topic is so important. I have also been lucky enough to help a few schools set up their own organic waste recycling system!
4. What is something you enjoy doing in nature?
   Anything ocean-related – I am so lucky to live nearby to the beaches on Dharawal Country! I adore snorkelling, and have recently gotten back into boogie boarding, which has been a joy. Hoping to be a full-blown surfer by summer!

5. What has been your favourite experience teaching young people, with KABNSW, or elsewhere?
   The students we teach are so brilliant and inspiring. I keep a list on my phone of all the cute and hilarious things that students have said to me whilst teaching with EnviroMentors! If I had a dollar for every primary-aged student who has randomly asked me “are you a vegetarian?”, and upon my confirmation, followed up with “yeah, I could tell” and walked away, I would have 3 dollars, which isn’t a lot of money, but still an interesting number of times for this to have happened! I guess I give off vego vibes?

Jacqui

1. Where does your passion for sustainability come from?
   My mum has always been the biggest green thumb, so I grew up loving and caring for the environment. I took this passion with me into Uni, and since then became particularly interested in the environmental impacts of fast fashion and food waste. You’ll find me whipping up food using leftovers and creating outfits from pre-loved clothing.

2. As we ask our students at the beginning of a Composting + Worm Farming incursion session: what is your favourite fruit or vegetable (and what is left over after you finish eating it)?
   There’s nothing better than roasted eggplant – the longer it’s cooked, the better! I try and use it all, but my worms LOVE the little stem on top.

3. Which module do you enjoy teaching the most (so far), and why?
   ‘Keeping Waterways Clean’ is my favourite module, it’s such a fun and interactive lesson. The students always enjoy it and I learn so much about the local waterways in the area I am teaching. Even when getting introduced to the content myself, I had a lot of ‘aha’ moments!

4. What is something you enjoy doing in nature?
   I’m a big fan of anything that involves being outside, in the sunshine. Running, hiking and snowboarding are just a few of my favourite ways to spend my time in nature.

5. What has been your favourite experience teaching young people, with KABNSW, or elsewhere?
   There are so many moments that are pure joy when teaching young people. A couple of sunshiny moments that come to mind are; when a student drew a picture of me while I was teaching – a very accurate representation, even including my sunflower earrings. I also had a student tell me just the other day that the quote that she lives by is “step up for those who don’t,” a good reminder while working to make a difference when not everyone is. I look at this quote in my phone everyday 😊

Sammi

1. Where does your passion for sustainability come from?
   I grew up in a coastal regional town in WA, so always had a massive love for the ocean and bush. When I moved to Sydney, I became aware of hyper-consumption and wanted to unlearn my consumerist behaviour and release myself from this system (as much as one can). I also love to do art, so have been experimenting with incorporating discarded plastic into my works now.

2. As we ask our students at the beginning of a Composting + Worm Farming incursion session: what is your favourite fruit or vegetable (and what is left over after you finish eating it)?
   Serve me up a tray of the orange root vegetables – carrot, pumpkin and sweet potato. I’m personally a skin on and seeds in type, so no food scraps!

3. Which module do you enjoy teaching the most (so far), and why?
   So far, ‘Litter’ because we spend time talking about the psychology and behaviour behind littering and consumption – why do people litter? How does that make you feel? How can humans use less STUFF? The kids always provide new perspectives and incredible ideas which makes me hopeful for the future!

4. What is something you enjoy doing in nature?
   When I’m feeling mermaid, you will find me at the beach! Currently living on the beautiful coast on Dharawal country. I loveeeee to surf and collect shells. When I’m feeling fairy, I’ll put on my favourite skirt and sashay into the forest with my journal and towel to sit on.

5. What has been your favourite experience teaching young people, with KABNSW, or elsewhere?
   A big reason why I wanted to join KABNSW is because I wanted to channel my climate anxiety into something constructive – educating the youth! But you always find that the kids teach you more than anything. I am OBSESSED with the arts and crafts ideas they come up with for recycling products! Yes, of course, a juice carton can be a watering can! Yes, you can make a solar oven with a pizza box! It’s this sort of ingenuity and excitement that energises me so much and has transformed my perspective in so many ways.

Catherine

1. Where does your passion for sustainability come from?
   Many years ago, I stumbled upon an article about people living a low waste lifestyle, which was such a radical concept to me at the time! For some reason, this ignited something in my brain and before I knew it, I was educating myself on the ins and outs of recycling and worm farming and having a go at making household products from scratch!

2. As we ask our students at the beginning of a Composting + Worm Farming incursion session: what is your favourite fruit or vegetable (and what is left over after you finish eating it)?
   The humble carrot is my absolute favourite vegetable to roast in the oven! I eat the skins, so the carrot tops (if there are any) go into my worm farm 😊

3. Which module do you enjoy teaching the most (so far), and why?
   Out of the few I’ve taught so far, I particularly enjoy the ‘Litter’ module, which really expands the students’ knowledge beyond “littering is bad”. Call me crude but I always get a kick out of revealing the dog poo picture – making the kids laugh halfway through an info-packed session is always a joy!

4. What is something you enjoy doing in nature?
   I love going for cold plunges in the ocean – even better if there’s a sunrise involved! I am absolutely not an early morning person but it’s worth it for the calming effect on my busy brain and the reminder that nature is a GIFT.

5. What has been your favourite experience teaching young people, with KABNSW, or elsewhere?
   Last year, I got to travel around the country as an actor/singer with Bell Shakespeare and perform educational theatre in schools. After one of our primary school shows, two students came up to me to ask about my ethnic background, and we had a little chat about all the different places our families were from. It reminded me of when I was young and needed to see people who looked like me on stage to help me realise that I could do it too.