Why "Green" Isn't Enough: What the 2025 Data Reveals About Sustainability in ECEC
Introduction:
Project Sustainability Collective's 2025 Snapshot surveyed 300+ early childhood education and care (ECEC) services across Australia. While environmental action is thriving across these services, the findings reveal that other dimensions of sustainability remain largely unseen.
Many services have flourishing gardens, composting systems, recycling stations, and nature play spaces. Yet this environmental progress masks a significant gap. The Snapshot data, drawn from guided sustainability assessments, anonymous educator surveys, reflections from professional learning participants, and strategy conversations with leadership teams, shows a consistent pattern across diverse ECEC settings: strong environmental focus, weak integration of social and economic dimensions.
1. How to Embed Sustainability Into Your Daily Program
The environmental work you're already doing — the veggie garden, composting, nature play — doesn't need to change. It needs to deepen. When children care for plants, share toys and equipment, or play with water, they might learn about fairness, community, and connection. But this learning is not automatic. They need new language and lenses to access the knowledge. You can help them see these links. Share what you're noticing with children, your team and families. You're perfectly positioned to lead a more holistic understanding of sustainability.
Sustainability in early childhood education isn't just about being 'green'. It's about building fair, resilient, and connected communities — environmentally, socially, and economically.
2. Why Most Early Childhood Services Focus Only on Environmental Sustainability
When we asked educators across Australia how sustainability shows up in their services, most spoke about environmental practices. Only a small proportion mentioned social connection, cultural identity, community partnerships, or economic decision-making as part of their sustainability approach.
This narrow focus is understandable. Environmental sustainability is tangible and visible. It grows in the garden, fills the compost bin, and delights children through sensory play. However, the EYLF 2.0 Sustainability Principle calls us to go further and understand sustainability as interconnected, where caring for the environment is inseparable from building fair, inclusive communities and making wise decisions about resources.
2.1 What the 2025 Data Tells Us
The Sustainability Snapshot 2025 found that:
88% of services identified environmental initiatives as their primary sustainability focus
Only 22% included social or economic sustainability in planning or documentation
Just 9% linked sustainability decisions to financial, strategic, or operational priorities
These patterns highlight a strong environmental foundation and a significant opportunity to connect sustainability with broader social and economic dimensions.
3. What Are the Three Domains of EYLF 2.0 Sustainability?
The Early Years Learning Framework 2.0 Sustainability Principle articulates three interconnected domains. Understanding how they manifest in everyday practice makes embedding sustainability genuinely accessible.
3.1 Environmental Sustainability
This is where most services are already strong: exploring and caring for natural environments.
What this looks like in your daily program:
Children caring for the garden and noticing what grows
Water play and learning where water comes from
Composting and observing how materials break down
Nature-based learning and sensory exploration
But the EYLF V.2. Sustainability Principle calls for a more integrated approach.
3.2 Social Sustainability (Including Cultural)
This means building inclusive, respectful relationships; honouring multicultural identity, language, and connection to place; and creating equitable opportunities for all.
What this looks like in your daily program:
Children sharing resources fairly and negotiating together
Learning about and celebrating the cultures represented in your community
Connecting with local Country and respecting First Nations knowledge
Including all children's voices in decision-making
Building relationships with families and local community members
3.3 Economic Sustainability
This means making wise decisions about resources — using what we have thoughtfully, understanding that choices today affect our future, and recognising the value of sharing and care.
What this looks like in your daily program:
Repairing toys and equipment rather than replacing them
Discussing why we compost and recycle
Creating with recycled materials and natural items
Learning about fairness when sharing limited resources
Understanding that caring for things well is a form of respect
4. How to Embed Sustainability Without Extra Work
Embedding sustainability across these three domains doesn't mean creating new activities. It means making the learning already happening in your daily routines visible and deepening.
When children help tidy up, they explore why we care for our space. When they negotiate who plays with the popular toy, they explore fairness. When they notice a leaky tap, they explore where the water goes and why they don't waste it.
The shift is in the language and intentionality — noticing sustainability moments already part of your program and helping children connect what they're doing and the bigger picture.
5. Free Tools to Help You Embed Sustainability
Embedding sustainability doesn't require starting from scratch. These resources are designed to make the process step-by-step and manageable:
Access the Full Sustainability Snapshot. Compare your service with others across Australia and see where your strengths and opportunities lie. The Snapshot provides data-backed insights into how services are progressing with sustainability integration.
Download the EYLF Principle Decoder. This practical decoder breaks down the EYLF 2.0 Sustainability Principle into observable practices across the three domains. It helps your team see exactly what embedding sustainability looks like in your unique context, and where you already have strengths.
6. How to Create a Sustainability Plan for Your Service
Every service is unique, including your starting point, team, community, and opportunities. That's why a one-size-fits-all approach rarely works.
If you're ready to move beyond "green" and create a realistic pathway for embedding sustainability across your service, let's talk.
Book a free strategy call with Project Sustainability Collective, which helps you:
Identify where you already have sustainability integrated (you likely have more than you realise)
Pinpoint the one or two areas that would make the biggest difference for your team and children
Create an achievable next step that builds on existing strengths rather than adding burden
7. How to Transform Sustainability Practice in Your Service
The 2025 Sustainability Snapshot data reminds us that environmental progress is only the beginning. Embedding sustainability in Australian ECEC means integrating environmental, social, and economic domains to reinforce each other.
When educators broaden their perspective, sustainability becomes a lived experience for children, families, and communities. It becomes who we are, not just what we do.
And it's more achievable than you might think.
Lil and Bron
About the Authors
Bronwyn Cron is a sustainability and STEM specialist with over a decade of experience supporting ECEC services to embed sustainability through strengths-based, whole-of-service practice. Her approach centres on making sustainability accessible and integrated rather than burdensome.
Lili-Ann Kriegler is an educational consultant, author, and Reggio Emilia specialist known for her conceptual learning, creative inquiry, and curriculum design work. She brings deep expertise in children's learning and how educators can support meaningful, integrated practice.
At Project Sustainability Collective, they offer a rare blend of educational insight, systems thinking, and practical implementation support—delivered with warmth, clarity, and humour. Based in Melbourne, they work with services in person and online to transform sustainability from an add-on activity into a core educational approach.
