Country kids water winners

By EMMA SUN
MOUNT Evelyn Primary School has beaten three city councils to win the water efficiency category of the Sustainable Cities Awards.
The school, which was up for six awards, won for reducing its water use from 3.66 kilolitres per student three years ago to using 1.72 kilolitres last year.
Other supporting initiatives included large water tanks for flushing the toilets, cleaning and watering the school’s vegetable and bush food gardens and a ban on bottled water being sold at the school canteen.
Principal Phil Comport said the ceremony last Friday, which was attended by sustainability teacher Trish Rathmell and Environmental Leaders of the Future (ELF) students Tayeishya Mommers, Keely Preston and Emily Haitas-Tricarico, was fantastic and he was pleased with the results.
“We are very proud that our school, especially in the water efficiency category, was seen as the best example in the state,” he said.
“Sustainability Victoria CEO Stan Krpan and the board of Keep Australia Beautiful were very impressed to see a school as an award winner and I think that our school and public education generally should be very proud to win such an award.”
Ms Rathmell said the school has saved about 1.5 million litres of water over the last three years through harvesting stormwater, which has also protected the nearby Little Stringybark Creek from too much run-off water.
“Most of the water that we use for our toilets and for watering the gardens is harvested through stormwater,” she said.
“If we weren’t collecting that water and using it ourselves, all of it would go into the Stringybark Creek and anything living in there would get flushed out and die.”
The school, which is one of 43 schools in Australia to be five star sustainable, was also nominated for protecting the environment, waste management, being an active school in sustainability, forming a young leaders group and an overall sustainability award.
Ms Rathmell hoped students would continue learning about the importance of sustainability.
“We initially just decided to go for it and it all seems to be paying off – everything we put in place now is going to be daily life for everyone soon.”