News

St Mary’s Anglican Girls’ School’s innovative environmental sustainability programs have caught the attention of local and federal governments.

 

The Federal Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management, Trevor Evans, Federal Member for Stirling, Vince Connelly and City of Stirling Mayor, Mark Irwin, took time out of their busy schedules in early November to meet with St Mary’s Principal, Mrs Judith Tudball, teachers and students to look at the ground-breaking programs and ideas developed by the School and students themselves.

 

The visit was hosted by Year 10 students, Lucy and Poppy, who developed the award-winning app Bin It Right. City of Stirling Mayor, Mark Irwin, took the opportunity to award the girls with the Stirling Star Award, in recognition of their dynamic idea, which aims to solve the problem of improper waste disposal.

 

The girls pitched their app to five Waste Management ‘Sharks’, during the Waste and Recycle Conference at Crown Towers in late September, using skills they learnt through the Year 10 i3 STEM program, and won $4000 to invest in their app and bring it to the market. Once the app has been made available to download, the City of Stirling has promised to lend their support to the app.

 

The tour also showcased St Mary’s sustainable garden, which was developed last year. The waterwise garden not only produces fresh vegetables but also recycles a huge amount of food scraps from the canteen. Our six worm farms churn through the waste, which produces an organic fertiliser and soil that are re-used in the garden or sold on to the St Mary’s community. The money is reinvested to purchase new seedlings and mulch.

 

The Minister also met with Year 10 students studying Marine Science, who have come up with a number of environmentally sustainable inventions such as a drinking straw made from sea lettuce, an ‘Obot’, which could be a potential solution to marine biofouling and decommissioning WA’s oil and gas rigs and allowing them to naturally form a reef. The girls have also researched key areas such as the harmful effects of chemicals like oxybenzone, contained in sunscreens, on the growth of sea lettuce, and ultimately, our marine system.

 

The visit finished with a passionate presentation from Year 1 student, Isolde, who charmed the visitors, teachers and students alike with her PowerPoint presentation about A Plastic Ocean and the changes needed to protect marine life.