Project Planet

8 x 24 minutes + additional content

Five passionate students have been recruited by Project Planet to lead their schools into a more sustainable future.

Project Planet’s champion, Lawrence Gunatilaka, introduces the five Waste Warriors who will steer their three schools on the individual missions that have been set for them.

At Fremantle College in Western Australia, Waste Warrior Sinon has the mission of reducing food waste. He imagines the possibilities of bringing the school vege patch back to life, with students growing their own food.

At Berry Springs Primary School in the Northern Territory, the focus is on water: a finite and precious resource. Waste Warriors Jenny, Max and Jayden will stop water wastage and promote renewable energies. Jenny, Jayden and Max develop a solar-powered automated irrigation system for the school garden.

And at Taroona High School in Tasmania, Waste Warrior Freida is set the task to break the waste cycle and follow the 5 Rs: to Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Renew and Recycle. Each “R” has a project team with a planned activity to achieve results.

Lawrence calls in on the Waste Warriors every few weeks to see how they’re progressing with their tasks.

And each week, the Warriors are set an extra challenge.

In episode one, it’s to reduce their class landfill to an amount that would fit in a small glass jar; another week it’s to get the message out about an endangered local native species.

Their extra challenges arrive in a purple box and there’s always a USB stick to plug in, with a message revealing this week’s task.

Throughout the series, the Waste Warriors are supported by relevant experts, who come in with advice and practical assistance to help them succeed in their major mission.

There are relevant facts and statistics along the way, as well as interviews with – and reactions from – the Waste Warriors. They have to clean toilets with natural ingredients and use recycled materials to build a watering system. There are experiments and a whole lot of team work as our Waste Warriors set their sights on changing their fellow students’ attitudes.

“It actually feels pretty cool being a Waste Warrior – it’s like being a superhero,” says Jayden from Berry Springs Primary School.

“I think it would be so cool if we could help change people’s minds,” reflects Freida, from Taroona High School.

Sinon from Fremantle College is both realistic and optimistic about this team’s task: “It’s going to take a lot of time and it’s going to take a lot of effort and it’s going to be hard for all of us, but I think we can do it.”

Project Planet: Saving the earth one school at a time.

Created By: Sally Browning
Producers: Sally Browning, Renee Kennedy
Executive Producer ABC: Amanda Isdale
Directors: Charmaine Ingram, Jennifer Wells-Scherrer, Claire Leeman
Associate Producer: Leah James
Cinematographers: Greg Knight, Matthew Newton, Claire Leach, Brad Smith
Editors: Daniel Oates, Elaine Smith, Roland Smith, Bryan McQueen-Mason, Ivan Davidov

Get to know the Waste Warriors

Max

Jenny

Jayden

Sinon

Frieda