Energized into Action

The commitment was to become more sustainably minded and to do my part in creating a better future for the global swim school industry.

BY MEL RICKWOOD

OWNER AQUATICS DOWN UNDER SWIM SCHOOL AUSTRALIA

On Tuesday the 20th September 2022 at 2pm I took the pledge. Sitting in a conference room in Hawaii at the USSSA Conference, I was given a blue tassel to tie onto my lanyard to acknowledge that I had made a commitment.

The commitment was to become more sustainably minded and to do my part in creating a better future for the global swim school industry.

So, what can a single site swim school operator from Sydney, Australia do with and within her leased facility to honor this commitment? To be honest, I hadn’t put a lot of thought into the carbon footprint that our business is contributing to – it’s been easy to say that the last few years have been challenging enough just staying open, without the added pressures of moral obligations and protecting the planet! But, the presentation on “10 tips and tricks to help the planet and your bottom line” made me consider that we want future generations to be able to have a place to enjoy the skills that we teach them.

Our leased premises are quite unique, we are situated within a shopping centre and therefore I have always thought our carbon footprint is ultimately out of our control. But my mind is now awash with ideas on what we can do to take back some of that control and make a positive impact on the environment as well as helping to educate the 1730 students (1127 families) that come through our doors every week.

WHAT WE ALREADY DO:

1. Cover our pool when it’s not in use which reduces heat loss and evaporation

2. Use electronic class rolls rather than paper rolls

3. Showers are on 30 sec timers and basin taps are push button operated

4. Electronic Automatic Leveling device (water witch) which tops up our water without manually relying on a hose preventing overfill and water wastage

5. Staff members have their own branded water bottle which they can refill from our water fountain rather than them buying bottled water 6. Each new family is given a reusable shopping bag with our logo on it

HERE ARE SOME STEPS I HAVE TAKEN SINCE RETURNING FROM THE CONFERENCE:

1. Made contact with our land lord.

The first thing I did was to contact our Shopping Centre management team to see what they think about in terms of environmental factors which could be useful for a tenant.

Their top priorities were:

• Waste – recycled material is significantly cheaper than general waste for them to dispose of. The centre currently has general waste, soft plastics , paper and cardboard and bottles and cans and are now looking into organic waste/ composting options • Lighting and energy consumption – LED lighting is recommended for all fixtures in general mall areas • Environmental education – workshops that educate our families – they have run 2 recently: In the Loop and The Deep Blue

Centre management have put me in touch with an energy consultant to come to our facility to see what can be done with our energy consumption – as we know that our filters, pumps and air handling systems draw a lot of energy and with the use of variable speed pumps and timers, we may be able to reduce our energy and our costs without compromising the integrity of the premises and or the quality of our water.

Centre management are in the process of investigating the installation of solar panels to the roof of the shopping centre – so hopefully we will be able to benefit from this to reduce our own consumption. In the meantime, they have agreed to put me in contact with a solar panel expert to discuss costs and savings. 2. Hand dryers vs paper towels. Our biggest waste product are hand towels that are not recyclable. We are currently looking into whether swapping to hand dryers will be a better environmental choice than hand towel dispensers.

3. Reusable swim diapers vs disposable diapers. By providing each new family with a reusable swim diaper on enrollment, we can reduce the amount of diapers that end up in landfill.

4. Reducing shower time. Our showers are timed for 30 seconds but people still feel the need to push the button again and again – so signage in the showers reminding customers on how much water is wasted whilst showering and reminding them to keep shower time to a minimum.

5. Back of house waste sorting baskets – recycling, soft plastics and general waste.

6. Emailing receipts rather that printing them or duplicating eftpos receipts.

7. Educating our families on water consumption and waste management by joining our shopping centre during holiday activities to run workshops.

8. 2023 Swim School Calendar – providing a QR code for parents rather than printing cardboard calendars.

9. Swim Costume and flipper swap week where they can swap flippers that no longer fit and donate swim costumes for charities.

10.Contacting our goggle supplier to see if they can remove external packaging and additional plastics.

So, in the words of Jessica Surette, grand impacts do not require grand gestures. What we hope to do is make some simple yet sustainable changes and do them consistently.

THANKS SUSTAINABILITY INNOVATORS AND USSSA FOR ENERGIZING ME INTO ACTION.