Award-winning educator Dave Harrington of Stone & Bones is a qualified ethno-botanist and ecologist, specialising in education and science. Throughout his career he has lectured at and collaborated with organisations such as Macquarie University, UTS, UNSW, the Australian Catholic University, the Catholic Education Office, and numerous high schools throughout Australia. Dave has also lectured at Yalbalinga, the Australian Catholic University’s Indigenous Unit, where he taught science for primary and secondary school teachers.

Among his many accomplishments he has worked closely with Indigenous communities in the Kimberley and northern NSW regions in collaborative projects aimed at recording and preserving Indigenous culture and practices. His UNSW lecture series, The Science of Indigenous Knowledge, profiled the scientific method and practices of indigenous people.

Dave is the recipient of the Eureka Science Award, the Macquarie University Partnerships award, the National Australian Learning award, and the Teaching Council Award.

 

SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES

 Stone & Bones seeks to minimise waste by employing the four Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Recycle.

-          When we encourage creative play using already available resources, we reduce the amount of materials needing to be purchased and wasted.  We use a huge range of materials to make, craft and construct the things we demonstrate, from timber and vines to foam, plastic pipes and metal. We even try to minimise the use of motor vehicles and instead travel using bicycles and bike trailers.

-          We reuse materials that are often thrown away, crafting interesting and reliable objects for our children’s activities. Our survival, bush-craft and nature play activities use materials gathered responsibly from nature: timber left over from logging or gathered from special plantings developed specifically for our activities, stones and pebbles from road excavations, and plant growth from weed species such as privet.

-          We look for the old, broken and disused and give it new life by repairing and re-purposing these familiar objects in new and exciting ways. Stone & Bones is very open to the possibilities found in construction skips and council clean-ups, and is always on the lookout for materials we can divert from the garbage and put to new use. We also have a love of old things, so the trunks, boxes and bags we use often have previous lives as camera cases, ammunition containers and fruit boxes.

-          We try to only use natural or recyclable materials to ensure our products have a responsible pathway after our activities are done. The objects we use for our historical days are sourced from facilities such as Reverse Garbage and The Bower, and through relationships with construction companies. We divert and re-purpose waste such as plywood, foam, floor coverings and cloth.