Enactus VU – student community action group

Enactus VU is a group of students at Victoria University with the mission of implementing projects that empower our community.

Enactus is focused on enhancing student leadership skills and developing the next generation of social entrepreneurs.

Together, we strive to address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.

2018–current project

Plastic solution project (PSP) aims to deliver a streamlined, in-house processing method for recycling and repurposing plastics on campus. Students will use key equipment: a shredder, an extruder, and some moulds. The project aims to process up to 250kg of plastic a week, which will be sourced from a variety of places including cafes and other locations on campus, the Royal Melbourne Hospital, and students’ own homes

The plastic will be repurposed into a selection of products, including wall clocks, worm farms, plastic bricks, garden beds and more. Students will do all the repurposing themselves in a dedicated space on campus. It is hoped that revenue generated from the sale of these products will be able to be reinvested back into infrastructure that would allow for a higher rate of processing.

PSP has been a vehicle for students to act on their strong moral purpose to make the university community better by repurposing plastic waste that would otherwise end up in landfill. Their actions will directly help to protect the environment. Students have used PSP as a platform to inform, raise awareness and educate the community about the plastic waste problem.

PSP was showcased at the last Vice-Chancellor’s Lecture Series on planetary health, and was the winner of the Student Innovation Award in 2020, and Protecting Country Award in 2022.

2020 – current project

This project proposes establishing an edible garden on the Footscray Park Campus that can provide food and other benefits for students. The team is focusing on innovative sustainable systems such as vertical farming and hydroponics to increase production and improve water & energy efficiency.

An edible garden can provide students with health and therapeutic benefits, including increased well-being and connectedness to the university community. It will also raise student awareness of planetary health and take action to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The garden will produce nutrient-dense fresh food for students. Depending on the seasons, it can vary between growing vegetables, herbs, fruits, berries, etc. A range of natural and organic food ingredients can be provided, along with cooking workshops, which will motivate students to try different recipes and improve their cooking skills.  Growing food in the garden allows students to observe and witness the plant growth process from sowing to harvesting.

Not only will they learn more about the plants in terms of the species’ characteristics, growing conditions, and maturity level, but it is also a great chance to appreciate the lifecycle of other species and be thankful for nature.

2022–current project

Apartment Refuse Intelligent Aggregation (A.R.I.A) is an initiative that aims to reduce food waste from apartments ending up in a landfill.

Australian households throw away over 300 kg of food waste annually for $2000 – $2500 per year. Food waste contributes 17.5 million tonnes of CO₂e annually. While many councils now offer food organics and garden organics (FOGO) bins to dispose of food waste, this option is only available to free-standing dwellings and not to apartments, flats or units. Other options such as garden composting and worm bins are also not accessible to apartment dwellers. With 10% of all Australian dwellings being classified as apartments, there is a substantial food waste problem that does not have a solution.