The Eco Committee at Newington College meet every week to share ideas and plan campaigns to make Newington a more sustainable and environmentally friendly place. With the support of Ms Mandi Randell, the team of dynamic and driven students have already made an impact on the way in which the College interacts with its environment. On Monday 8 April, a convoy of environmental ambassadors travelled to Taronga Zoo for the Enviro Forum 2013 with the aim of sharing our successes and gathering new ideas from other schools. The chosen students were Jonno Tims (10/MO), Edward Treloar (10/FL), Ross Kovanis (10/LE) and Jack Tiftis (10/MA).

After a sunny ferry journey and a bus (keeping it sustainable with public transport) we arrived at Taronga Zoo, donned name badges and introduced ourselves to the baby snake and possum who were casually hanging out in the lecture theatre (not together). Then followed a brief introduction from the zoo staff to outline the aim of the event: to raise awareness and gather ideas for sustainable projects. The attendees were mainly from Sydney schools, although a few had travelled from further afield. There were approximately 100 students present, all of whom had been forewarned of a competition to be held at morning break and lunchtime to create the most sustainable and interesting lunch packaging, to encourage less wastage from school lunches. None, however, were as prepared as Team Newington. Ed Treloar and Jonno Tims swept aside their competitors with their architectural feat: they had constructed lunch boxes simply of banana leaf and recycled twine. Early winners at 11 o’clock, their innovation was put to the test as the sun rose higher: would the banana leaf protect their food from the elements? The conclusion we reached was that banana leaf is a fantastic vehicle for sandwiches, dishes consisting of rice and sauce however, will spring a leak!

The break was followed by a series of presentations from each school, demonstrating the variety of different approaches schools have adopted towards sustainability. All were interesting and informative, and I think we were all grateful to have such support from Newington, staff and students, in our endeavours; many schools clearly did not enjoy such financial and emotional backing. A few highlights of the presentations featured a delicious kitchen garden, a move from plastic water bottles to reusable containers and a strange system called ‘Duckponics’, which used ducks to propel a dynamic water filtration system. Whether the ducks enjoyed this is yet to be discovered. Ed Treloar led our presentation and was a credit to the school with his clarity, projection and engaging manner; well done Ed!

Lunch was spent unwrapping banana leaves while watching a seal show, put on for the Forum. The iPads provided to document the day caught a special relationship blossoming between Ed and one of the seals. Entertained, and a little heartbroken, we moved on into the zoo. With only a short time before the afternoon speakers, we completed a speedy circuit of ‘the big names’ before returning for the afternoon presentations. The sight of a baby elephant, an angry teenage gorilla and a giraffe family cemented our resolve to continue promoting environmental issues at Newington.

The afternoon speakers were focused on empowering students to make a change. They were inspiring and highly entertaining, although the production of props such as an enormous beard and a chicken were a little bemusing. The day ended with a pledge to continue our good work. We caught the ferry home and returned to Newington the following day, armed with new ideas for promoting sustainability.

Ms Sophie Robinson
English Teacher