Water And Schools – SA 25% Reduction; Water Wise in Vic.

Students and teachers have worked hard in SA’s 602 State schools to slash water use from 5.06m kilolitres in 2000-01 to 3.8m kilolitres in 2005-06 – a 25% reduction, which is the equivalent of 1200 Olympic-sized swimming pools of water. Are other states working on similar projects?

SA’s Strategic Plan requires that from 2008 all education sites reduce water use by 10% and energy use by 25%. Education Minister Jane Lomax-Smith says:

“Many schools have demonstrated the targets are achievable, with some reducing water consumption by 40% or more, including:

• The Pines Primary School (40% reduction) purchases stormwater, stored in an underground aquifer, from Salisbury Council. Over the next five years, 30 more schools will be connected.
• Gawler High School (63% reduction) replaced its manual irrigation system with an automated system and installed five 50,000 litre tanks to capture and reuse stormwater runoff.

Almost half of schools already have met their water targets and a number of schools have met their energy targets. We will work with all schools to help them to achieve their targets…

Reducing water and energy use not only helps the environment, it also frees up extra funds for reinvestment into children’s education.”

SA Strategies

• Green kits with tips on saving energy and water are being prepared for distribution to schools and preschools during Term 4.
• Schools that use the largest amounts of water and energy will shortly undergo audits to find ways to reduce their consumption.
• $1 million of annual ‘Green School’ grants, awarded to 78 schools in June, are being used to implement initiatives that save on water and energy use. 624 grants have been awarded over the past five years.
• The $1.25m SA Solar Schools program will be contributing solar energy in 112 schools and preschools, which includes two schools that signed up to the program last month.
• Energy efficient technologies, such as timers, dimmers and more efficient hot water systems, are being implemented in a number of schools.
• Automated irrigation systems that allow schools to water their grounds at night to reduce water loss through evaporation and cleansed stormwater from wetlands are other projects being adopted.

Waste Wise – a Sustainability Victoria Program

I hear locally that the Warrandyte Primary School community’s great efforts in implementing environmental and recycling initiatives have recently been recognised and the school declared a silver-level Waste Wise school.

Teachers and students have organised many projects to minimise rubbish. Each classroom uses recycle boxes for paper waste and students write on scrap paper so they no longer need to unnecessarily use new writing pads. Food scraps from lunch are collected and placed in either a compost bin or the newly installed worm farm and toilets are flushed using tank water.

Please drop us an email, with some links, if your school community is engaged in a forward looking sustainability program somewhere in Oz…and share the ideas?