Schools
St Emilie's Catholic Primary School, Canning Vale, WA
Through the Challenge, St Emilie’s were able to kick-start their water conservation programs and learn about water management. Assistant Principal, Daine Burnett, said all the students had to complete a water-wise quiz to be declared a winner. “We have a major sustainability focus here – something that comes from our Principal Sally O’Dea – and have been able to develop a sustainable culture through the school,” he said. “With the watertank, we can use the water for cleaning but we are also looking at using it for a perma-culture garden. We focus on all aspects of sustainability here – social, economic and environmental. “We have a whole-school scoping focus and with the support of the staff and leadership from the principal it has been easy to implement. For example, we recycle paper at all levels and thanks to the tank, we are now looking towards the permaculture garden. ”There are many schools within Catholic education to learn from. St Emilie’s Catholic Primary School in Canning Vale has become a water-wise school and was one of 200 recipients Australia-wide to win a free watertank through the BlueScope Tank a Day Challenge.
Rosary Primary School Watson switches to 100% green electricity at ‘no net cost’
Rosary Primary School, in Canberra’s northern suburbs, recently decided to take a stand on climate change and switch to 100% green electricity from ActewAGL. Although green electricity is charged at a premium to ‘black’ coal based electricity, Rosary has reduced its total use by over 20% through energy efficiency initiatives. This means that the total electricity bill is no higher than it would have been had the initiative not been undertaken.
The energy efficiency initiative has two main components. The first was a lighting upgrade, in which voltage controllers were fitted to the switchboards reducing the voltage by 25%, better quality fluorescent lamps were fitted enabling some to be removed, and compact fluoros used to replace incandescent bulbs. This was done with the assistance and advice of the Australian Sustainable Schools Initiative (AuSSI), and ACT’s Home Energy Advice Team (HEAT). Rosary is very grateful to Mr Peter Miller of the HEAT program, for his ongoing support and advice over the past two years.
Secondly, a major ‘Switch Off’ effort was launched in the school at the same time as the students studied a new curriculum unit on “Energy”. The ‘Switch Off’ component has provided almost half the total savings but will pay dividends far beyond this. The students are actively engaged in the process by turning off lights and computers when not in use, and shutting doors in winter. They can see the savings they are making and understand that by taking control with simple actions they contribute to real and positive outcomes for their world. In Rosary’s case, this means removing over 80 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per annum.
In recognition of its efforts, Rosary has been accredited by the ACT AuSSI as an EnergyWise school. “This has been a very empowering experience for our school community. We take our responsibility as stewards of our precious planet very seriously”, said Maureen Doszpot, Principal of Rosary Primary School. “We’ve had wonderful support from the ACT AuSSI and HEAT programs, without them we wouldn’t have progressed this far”, Mrs Doszpot said.
Rosary values the partnership it has developed with ActewAGL through the Grass Roots turf and irrigation research project and the school community is pleased to further this association through our purchase of electricity through ActewAGL’s green energy program Greenchoice. “As our local utility company, ActewAGL has been very responsive in facilitating our environmental goals”, Mrs Doszpot said.
All Saints Catholic Primary School, Liverpool, NSW
The School has forwarded two reports which may be of interest to other schools.
The first report is entitled Environmental Footprint Report Recommendations and is available for download: Report 2007.doc [393 KB].
The second report is the Draft 2008 Environmental Plan Report Recommendations.
2008 Plan.doc [330 KB]
First Place for St Monica's in Evatt ACT
Recently staff and students at St Monica's participated in the Earth Hour, by turning off our lights and computers for an hour, with students raising awareness to lessen our impact on our planet.
Two of our students, Oliver and Eloise, furthered our involvement, entering the Earth Hour: Generation Green competition, provided by Philips Fairfax Media.
The competition, Earth Hour: Generation Green is designed to recognise and support students and their schools taking action to ensure environmental sustainability.
Oliver and Eloise consulted with the staff and students at St Monica's and designed an 800 - word project plan to make our school more environmentally sustainable and reduce our impact on climate change.
The students outlined a plan to take an energy audit in our school, create a marketing campaign to turn off lights and continue to recycle paper products.
Green Canteen
They also aimed to involve the whole school community in implementing a 'Green Canteen' project. This involves growing a kitchen garden, installing a compost bin, worm farm and organic waste bin, building a chook yard, installing a small solar - powered hot water system in the canteen and a small water tank for watering the garden.
Eloise and Oliver were excited to be notified by the Sydney Morning Herald staff that their project plan was one of three short - listed nation - wide. The school was surprised and elated when informed that the students had been awarded first place and $10,000 towards cultivating a more environmentally friendly school.
Well done to Eloise, Oliver and all at St Monica's in Evatt ACT!
