Students of the Australia-Pacific Technical College (APTC) proudly launched APTC’s Green Action Plan in Honiara on Friday, 17 March 2017.

APTC is an innovative development project funded by the Australian Government, delivering Australian skills and qualifications for a wide range of vocational careers for skilled workers across the Pacific region.

The objectives of the initiative are to promote public awareness and positive change to deal with environmental issues, as well as to encourage individual and community stewardship of natural resources in Solomon Islands.

This semester, APTC students in Solomon Islands are undertaking studies in three Certificate III programs - Carpentry, Community Services and Hospitality.

APTC Solomon Islands Country Manager, Ms Pamela Morgan said, “It is important that APTC be a role model for environmental sustainability and responsibility as well as ensuring that all students are exposed to ways of maintaining a pristine environment in the Solomon Islands”.

The students, who come from across the five major islands and nine provinces of the Solomon Islands, have developed plans within their own programs to promote sustainable environmental practices. These include sharing a ‘green’ lunch without plastic wrapping, which has been a very popular idea, and the ‘clean up the local area’ approach.

As students cleaned up around Honiara on Friday, their aim was to promote awareness about environmental issues and the appreciation that everyone can contribute to clean, green surroundings.

Community Services students also designed green t-shirts with their own recycle logo as part of the Sustaining Pacific project.

Another group of students created an awareness role play on environmental issues, while the third demonstrated how to recycle and reuse all leftover materials from their program through a range of practical ideas.

To promote recycling, every student and staff member will create a hat from recycled materials. A “Best Hat” award will be presented to winning students from each program and one to a staff member.