SUSTAINING OUR WORLD

Sustainability has been important to me since I realised that our survival depends on our environment. However, this realisation was accompanied by the unfortunate understanding that most actions taken by humanity fail to consider this, or do and just don’t care.

In Year 9, I went to see Jane Goodall: Rewind the Future and my perspective on the climate changed, with my passion for sustainability intensifying tenfold. I realised that if I wanted to stand against climate change and work towards a better future, I couldn’t just talk about it – I had to take action.

Over the past year I have had the privilege of being part of the Sustainability Va’ad (Committee). This opportunity has allowed me to explore and develop my passion for sustainability and particularly climate change by taking action in the school environment.

Beginning the year online, due to the pandemic, our first events – Keep Australia Beautiful Week and the Online Climate Strike Rally – were mostly promoted through our School Sustainability Instagram account. We organised multiple posts and the success of Instagram as a platform for advertising sustainability events led us to continue using the page throughout the year.

Emanuel has been extremely supportive of students’ special interests. Challenging climate change necessitates the sustainable production and use of resources such as water. With 771 million people lacking access to clean and safe drinking water, Eden Grynberg and I felt compelled to act. Upon raising the idea to Ms Starkey, we were able to work with the Student Representative Council to organise a whole school blue-themed plain clothes day to raise money for Charity:Water. The organisation aims to implement community water projects and help facilitate water, sanitation, and hygiene programs. Charity:Water has helped almost 15 million people across 29 countries so far.

We also attempted to introduce new compost and soft plastic bins around the School; however, the rain proved an issue to their maintenance. There were discussions about abandoning the idea of soft plastic bins altogether, but with persistence we were able to agree on the idea of a singular soft plastics bin in a central location – next to the canteen. Sadly, soft plastic recycling has now been paused in NSW and we are faced with tons of otherwise recyclable materials being moved to landfill.

Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed being part of the Sustainability Va’ad over the course of my last year at school and am so grateful to have had the opportunity to develop my passion. I can’t wait to see how the School continues to engage with the climate in a positive way and wish the next Sustainability Va’ad a green future.

By Lilly Goldberg Class of 2022

“See to it that you do not spoil and destroy My world; for if you do, there will be no one else to repair it.”