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Sustainability
‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed
citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that
ever has.’
Margaret Mead
Climate change and its potential solutions continue to
occupy a substantial space in political and social debates.
The Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in November 2014 has
warned that, if left unchecked, climate change will increase
the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts
for people and ecosystems. The Secretary-General, Ban
Ki-moon, urged worldwide action in light of its stark
finding, saying that ‘
even if emissions stopped tomorrow,
we will be living with climate change for some time
to come
’.
Student leadership of Sustainability within the School
remains a keystone of our approach, and this year’s
Sustainability Captain, Zoe Rachcoff, is to be commended
on her leadership of Students for Sustainability and her
enthusiastic promotion of environmental issues to the
whole School.
During 2014 we have focused on promoting actions that
students can identify making a difference, including
participation in awareness raising and activism campaigns
both within and outside the School. Key Achievements in
2014 include:
• The Senior School Students for Sustainability (SFS) group
continued its ‘Open Meeting’ Policy that enabled all girls
who are passionate about the environment to be
involved. In the Junior School, the Green Team, with its
representatives from Prep to Grade 6, continued to
brainstorm ideas about making their School more
sustainable.
• Earth Hour once again swept around the world on
Saturday 29 March as over 1.2 billion people from 152
countries switched off their lights to celebrate and signal
their care for the planet. Ruyton showed its commitment
by holding its own Earth Hour the day before and turned
off all electrical appliances. Some very talented girls
entertained students and staff during lunch in Royce
Theatre with acoustic performances.
• On the same evening the Melbourne Environmental
Schools Initiative (MESI) held its inaugural Earth concert
at Melbourne High School. MESI was formed in 2013 by a
group of committed students from schools across
Melbourne. Over 10 acts from different schools
performed on the night, including three Ruyton
musicians, alongside three headline acts: Declan Sykes,
Angie McMahon and BigWords. The night was a huge
success, with an estimated 250 people (and Panda)
attending, and raising $1000 that was sent to the Save
the Reef campaign.
• World Environment Day was celebrated with a guest
speaker, former Sustainability Captain, Tessa Faulks,
speaking about the importance of each person taking
action to make a difference and a candle-lit acoustic
concert in Royce theatre. Girls were encouraged to make
it a Nude-Food day.
• This year’s National Tree Day focused on the care and
renewal of local natural places, native plants and
animals. On a crisp Sunday morning in July, students and
teachers gathered at Back Creek in Camberwell to offer
their time to plant 1500 trees.
• We have continued to upgrade our recycling systems.
Hundreds of kilograms of recyclables and organic waste
were diverted from landfill. Empty printing cartridges
and computer consumables were recycled through Close
the Loop, along with old mobile phones, which supported
the Melbourne Zoo’s environment programmes.
• The Sponsor aWorm Campaign during Term 3 promoted
the importance of correctly using the worm farms and
reducing the amount of food being put into landfill. Over
170 worms were sponsored.
We have enjoyed another busy and productive year for
Sustainability and I thank everyone who has participated in
our events. The students and staff involved in creating and
supporting all these projects can be proud of their
achievements.
Ms Nicole Volkmann,
Sustainability Co-ordinator
Annual Report 2014
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