EcoMarines Ambassadors shine at Global Link 2025

EcoMarines Ambassadors’ environmental projects shone through at Global Link 2025, securing them top positions at the event held in Tangalooma earlier this month.

St Anthony’s Catholic College (Deeragun), Bulimba State School and Kurwongbah State School stood out from 26 teams across seven countries, which had their sustainability projects assessed by a panel of experts.

Debuting in 2019, Global Link serves as a hub connecting schools and students with critical global sustainability challenges through interactive learning experiences and a dynamic competition.

The projects

Driven by a broad environmental curriculum, St Anthony’s Catholic College introduced to the public its successful projects to treat waste streams.

The school’s implementation of Containers for Change, lunch scraps to compost and vermiculture systems has reduced the size of landfill bins, which all require constant effort by students and staff to maintain. However, their complex microplastic recycling system drew most of the experts’ attention.

“The microplastic recycling system is one that a few businesses have implemented, and we thought we could too. We believed it was our chance to increase the recycling of single-use plastic, via students,” explains the school’s teacher, Angela Betteridge.

The plastic lids are washed and sorted into colours, then shredded into small flakes, with an extruder machine pushing them through into a mold. The final product comes in many different shapes, such as a triangular pen, a keyring, and a small plant pot.

“If, however, someone would like to change their pen, we can shred it down and recycle it. Ensuring those plastics are not entering the environment is how we show our care for Mother Earth,” Angela completes.

The same commitment and enthusiasm were evident in the projects at Bulimba State School, one of the first four schools to join the EcoMarines program in 2014.

Throughout the years, the school’s community has focused on reducing its waste, solidifying its Containers for Change and purchasing homes for native bees.

According to the school’s teacher, Caral Jones, there are several initiatives already in operation, and as EcoMarines, they are focused on maintaining the group’s efforts.

“We asked the students what project they were interested in for this year. Many expressed a desire to bring wildlife into our school. From that list, we narrowed it down to the idea that introducing frogs to our environment could be beneficial for monitoring the health of our ecosystem,” Caral says.

After conducting extensive surveys, collaborating with community partners, and performing grassroots research, the Ambassadors successfully compiled data on how to create a frog-friendly habitat and tracked the number of species observed this year at the school.

Their ongoing project is wrapped in expectations and is shaping up to make Bulimba State a model in cultivating a wildlife environment.

Global Link 2026

As the EcoMarines Ambassadors’ outstanding projects shine a light on the power of student-led sustainability initiatives, we’re already looking forward to Global Link 2026!

Mark your calendars and start planning now – it’s time to get ready for another exciting year of innovation, collaboration, and environmental action.

Visit the Global Link website to learn more about the program, review past projects, and start brainstorming ideas for next year’s competition. Let’s work together to make a positive impact on our planet and take the EcoMarines spirit to new heights in 2026!