Darlo Public’s eco-entrepreneurs

Student’s at Darlinghurst Public School are getting a lesson sustainability from a new initiative that will see them trading garden produce with local businesses.
With funding from the City of Sydney, the primary school will be expanding its community gardens, chicken coop, and bringing in a commercial-sized worm farm, teaching its pupils the importance of living green.
“I think it’s really important that we give kids ownership of their planet and teach them to be custodians of it,” said Principal Rachel Privett.
“A lot of families don’t have gardens, they live in apartments, so it’s giving community members access to a communal garden.”
Each class will be in charge of their own garden plot, with an ‘eco-warrior’ chosen as the leader of each group.
Students will also get a hands-on lesson in commerce, teaming up with celebrity chef Bill Granger’s Darlinghurst restaurant, Bill’s, to provide chefs with parsley and snow peas for their menus.
The produce will be sold at a wholesale market rate with the students’ income going straight back into garden materials.
“Kids will have little books to do account keeping of what’s coming in and what’s going out, so they’ll actually be given ownership in terms of cash flows,” said Ms Privett.
Richard Unsworth, owner of Garden Life in Darlinghurst, is also heavily involved in setting up the project.
“I think businesses and communities need to work together and act locally to make a difference. It is only small things but when you get lots of small things happening it becomes a big thing,” said Mr Unsworth, who runs a gardening club every Wednesday at the school.
Darlinghurst Public School is one of several local primary schools provided with funding by Sydney City Council in an effort to enhance the city’s community gardens.
Sydney City Council recently approved funding for several local schools as part of its matching grants program, which encourages the creation of community gardens.