Hey everyone from the Astute team!
We’ve been having some pretty incredible conversations with Early Learning Centre directors lately, and there’s one topic that keeps coming up over our morning coffees (served in our reusable mugs, naturally) – sustainability in early childhood education.
Here’s the thing that hit us during a centre visit last week: a 4-year-old asked one of our Children’s Services Coordinators, “Why do we put the banana peels in the special bin?” That moment was pure gold. This little human was already thinking about waste, asking questions, and making connections. That’s when it clicked for us – early childhood centres aren’t just caring for children, they’re literally raising the next generation of environmental stewards.
What We’re Actually Seeing in Centres (The Real Story)
The Game-Changing Moments: During our recent centre assessments, we’ve witnessed some pretty amazing stuff. There’s a centre in Brisbane where the 3-year-olds have become the “energy police”—reminding adults to be more sustainable in their daily habits. Another centre has children so excited about their worm farm that they’ve started asking their parents to separate food scraps at home.
But here’s what really gets us excited – these aren’t just cute activities. These centres are embedding sustainability into their National Quality Standard practices, and the results are showing up in their assessments.
The Challenges We’re Helping Centres Navigate: Let’s be honest – sustainability in childcare isn’t always Instagram-worthy moments with happy children in gardens. Our centre managers are dealing with real challenges:
- Balancing costs when sustainable products often have higher upfront expenses
- Managing increased workload when implementing new eco-practices
- Training staff who might not have sustainability experience
- Meeting compliance requirements while introducing new systems
- Engaging families who are new to sustainable practices
We’ve been there with our centres, problem-solving these challenges together. Sometimes it’s as simple as showing them how a composting program can actually reduce waste disposal costs. Other times, it’s helping them find grants for solar panel installations.
What's Actually Working (From Our Centre Visits)
The Small Changes Making Big Impacts:
Our quality improvement consultant, Lisa, recently worked with a centre that was struggling with their environment and sustainability goals under the NQS. Here’s what transformed their practice:
Kitchen & Food Waste Revolution: Instead of throwing away food scraps, they introduced “scrap sorting” as a learning experience. Children now know which scraps go to the worms, which go to compost, and which can’t be composted. The centre reduced waste disposal costs, but more importantly, the children developed an incredible understanding of decomposition, responsibility, and care for living things.
Natural Play Spaces (Without Breaking the Budget): We’ve helped centres transform play areas using local partnerships. One centre partnered with their local Men’ Shed to build insect houses. Another worked with community gardens to get established plants. The result? Rich sensory experiences, improved motor skills development, and children who understand that play doesn’t need plastic.
The Supply Chain Reality Check: Here’s something we learned the hard way while helping centres – sustainable procurement isn’t just about buying “eco-friendly” products. It’s about buying smarter.
The Stuff We Wish Every Centre Knew (But Often Gets Overlooked)
The “Ah-Ha!” Moments from Our Centre Work:
Sustainability Isn’t Just About Recycling: The centres making the biggest impact understand that sustainability is about systems thinking, problem-solving, and responsibility – all crucial life skills. It’s not just environmental education; it’s quality early childhood education that happens to be sustainable.
Documentation Is Your Friend: Centres that document their sustainability learning (photos of children engaged in composting, videos of children explaining why they turn off lights, samples of children’s environmental art) find it much easier to demonstrate quality practice during assessments and to communicate value to families.
Start Small, But Start: We’ve seen centres overwhelm themselves trying to implement everything at once. The most successful sustainability journeys start with one simple practice – maybe just composting fruit scraps – and build from there as children, families, and staff become engaged.
Budget Planning Works: Sustainable practices often have upfront costs but long-term savings. Centres that plan for this (setting aside funds for LED light conversion, water tank installation, or solar panels) see better financial outcomes than those trying to make changes without proper planning.
Staff Buy-In Is Everything: The most successful sustainability programs happen in centres where staff understand and value the environmental and educational benefits. When educators see how sustainability practices support children’s learning and development, implementation becomes much smoother.
What We’re Learning from Our Centres About the Future
The Ripple Effect: Here’s what’s exciting us – the children in centres with strong sustainability practices are becoming change agents in their families and communities. We’ve heard stories of children asking their parents to install rainwater tanks, start composting at home, and choose walking over driving for short trips.
The Quality Connection: Sustainability education naturally incorporates critical thinking, scientific inquiry, problem-solving, and community awareness, all key elements of quality early childhood education.
The Community Impact: Some of our centres have become sustainability hubs for their communities. They’re sharing resources, hosting workshops for families, and collaborating with local environmental groups. It’s beautiful to see early childhood centres positioned as community leaders in environmental stewardship.
So, what sustainability practices are working in your centre? What challenges are you navigating? We’d love to hear your stories and learn from your experiences! 🌱
From all of us at Astute Early Years Specialists – supporting quality practice, one centre at a time.