Part 5: Behaviour Change and Education: Shifting the System
From Litter Prevention to Waste Reduction
As we’ve explored in Parts 1–4, Australia’s environmental challenges are longstanding, systemic, and evolving with population growth, urbanisation and new technologies. Keep Australia Beautiful (KAB) and other grassroots organisations play a key role in addressing these challenges through education, awareness and behaviour change. While recycling and litter management remain important, lasting impact comes from reducing waste at the source, partly by encouraging individuals, schools, businesses and communities to explore more sustainable practices.
KAB delivers a range of programs that blend learning with practical action, helping people gain knowledge, develop sustainable habits, and engage with environmental issues in their everyday lives. These programs equip the next generation to turn awareness into action, tackle waste at its source, and positively influence their communities.
National Programs
Contain Your Waste: Gamifying Behaviour Change
Contain Your Waste is one of KAB’s most effective behaviour-change programs, designed to reduce waste at the source. Originally a KAB Week campaign, Contain Your Waste has grown into an annual challenge: participants aim to rethink, reduce, and contain all waste in a container of their choice.
By avoiding single-use plastics, reusing materials, and creatively minimising waste, participants learn that small, consistent actions can yield significant environmental benefits. The program also promotes soft plastic reuse – zip-lock bags, bread bags, and packaging can be repurposed for storage or DIY projects, reducing landfill contributions. Community engagement is amplified through “BIN-fluencers,” who inspire their network to adopt sustainable habits together.
Paint Australia Beautiful: Creativity Meets Environmentalism
The Paint Australia Beautiful Schools Mural Competition invites students to express their vision for a cleaner, more sustainable Australia through nature-inspired murals. Focusing on litter, waste, and biodiversity, the competition encourages civic responsibility and eco-consciousness among young Australians.
Shortlisted murals are shared on social media for public voting, with the People’s Choice Award winner announced nationally. By combining art with environmental education, the program nurtures creativity while embedding sustainable thinking in students’ everyday routines.
State & Territory Based Programs
Eco-Schools NT
Eco-Schools is a global sustainability framework operating in 74 countries, empowering students to take the lead in environmental action. In the Northern Territory, KAB guides schools through the internationally recognised seven-step framework to achieve Green Flag accreditation.
Schools establish an eco-committee, conduct an environmental review, develop an action plan, and address at least three themes such as Energy & Climate, Biodiversity, Lifestyles, Water, or Litter. Earning the Green Flag recognises a school’s commitment to environmental education and provides momentum, pride, and inspiration for students to continue championing sustainability throughout their school years and beyond.
EnviroMentors® NSW
Since 1994, EnviroMentors® has delivered mobile, incursion-based environmental education across NSW, making it one of Australia’s longest-running sustainability programs. The program offers interactive workshops that boost environmental awareness and inspire achievable, practical actions for students from preschool to Year 6. Topics include waste management, recycling, resource recovery, the circular economy, stormwater pollution, biodiversity and more.
Sessions are hands-on and dynamic, incorporating movement, games, role play, and props to engage students. Follow-up resources encourage learners to continue applying lessons at home, influencing family and community habits. The program aims to develop young environmental stewards who understand local issues, feel confident taking action, and spread sustainable habits.
Clean Schools WA, Wipe Out Waste SA & Litter Less SA
In Western and South Australia, KAB supports schools with hands-on programs that turn environmental learning into action. Clean Schools WA provides free toolkits and resources that help students, staff, and families manage litter responsibly, instilling habits and pride in maintaining clean school grounds. Wipe Out Waste SA (WOW) guides schools from preschool to Year 12 to improve waste systems, increase resource recovery, and embed sustainable practices, offering professional development, bin audits, and the WOW Teacher Guide to support ongoing improvement. Litter Less SA encourages students and teachers to identify local litter challenges and implement practical solutions, bringing lessons to life beyond the classroom.
Together, these programs create cleaner, healthier schools and inspire the next generation of environmentally conscious citizens.
Shifting the System
KAB’s work demonstrates that behaviour change isn’t about blame—it’s about empowerment. Through innovative educational programs, gamified challenges, and both state-based and nationwide initiatives, KAB equips individuals, communities, and businesses to take meaningful action and design more effective systems.
By fostering shared responsibility, building resilient habits, and equipping the next generation with the tools to lead, KAB is helping shift Australia toward a future where sustainable choices are part of everyday life.
Looking Ahead
In The Final Chapter, we explore the foundation of Keep Australia Beautiful and how our rich history is shaping cultural change in todays climate. We discuss solutions for a greener and cleaner future and what you can do to have an impact.
WRITTEN BY: Rosie Starr (KAB Content Creator – Volunteer)
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