By Brendan Rees
A devotion to making a difference on the environment has earned Cranbourne East Primary School a state award.
From turning of electrical items when not is use to using email instead of paper – students are embracing ways to reduce their impact on the world.
Member for Cranbourne Jude Perera presented the school with its three-star Sustainability Certification as a Resource Smart School on Wednesday, 14 February.
The school met the benchmarks for energy, water and waste usage under the state’s ResourceSmart Schools program.
Mr Perera congratulated Cranbourne East Primary School for reducing its environmental impact through the program.
“This certification recognises the great work of the dedicated teachers and staff at Cranbourne East Primary School.”
He said the program was fantastic in providing students a hands-on understanding of sustainability and the environment.
“Embracing a culture of sustainable living in our schools is incredibly important, and I thank all students, teachers and parents for contributing towards their certification.”
So far the program has helped more than 1,300 Victorian schools save more than $20 million through energy, waste and water savings.
Cranbourne East Primary School science and sustainability teacher Mareta Singleton said the school was honoured to receive the award and shared a common goal of becoming more sustainable every day.
“We aim to develop responsible, resilient and respectful citizens who make informed decisions to reduce their impact on the environment.”
“Fun, hands on science lessons have been conducted with every year level throughout the year to inform and explore how we can save energy at home and at school,” she said.
“Posters and digital presentations about renewable energy were part of the year five and six students’ lessons.”
Ms Singleton said one of their biggest energy savers was using email and the internet instead of printing newsletters and notices.
She added: “Our lights are on automatic sensors which turn lights off when no movement is sensed as well as nightly at 7pm”.
Mr Perera encouraged other schools in the community to sign up for the ResourceSmart Schools program if they had not already.
Schools participating in the program are awarded up to five stars for completing modules in relation to water, waste, energy, biodiversity.
He said the program had prevented more than 58,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere since 2008.
For more information on Sustainability Victoria’s Resource Smart School Program visit: www.resourcesmartschools.vic.gov.au
