The Vinnies Return and Earn Program is a system-wide initiative for CEDoW that continues our commitment to proactively and strategically engage with the challenges from Pope Francis’s environmental encyclical Laudato Si’ – On Care For Our Common Home.

This Return and Earn Program partnership enables our school communities to expand their commitment to environmental sustainability by collecting and recycling eligible containers – Vinnies providing for the delivery of bins, pickups on a regular basis and regular reporting of social and environmental outcomes.

This in turn assists in Vinnies' delivery of social justice programmes, with all funds raised going directly to helping Vinnies run their local accommodation and support services, such as counselling and case management for vulnerable and disadvantaged people.

Participation in the program enables our school communities to respond to the “cry of the earth and the cry of the poor” – an initiative that is both good for our planet and also good for people in our community who need our help.

Through the partnership agreement with St Vincent de Paul, CEDoW engages in the NSW Government’s Return and Earn Container Deposit Scheme in a significant way, giving the opportunity for Vinnies to generate new income streams whilst providing education for our schools in recycling and waste management, and an alternative to traditional in-school fundraising.