Year 9 Jade Destremau, chemistry teacher and Eco Sisters co-ordinator Hannah Fay and Year 7 Tessa Pickett with the purple bins used to collect plastic bottles.
Camera IconYear 9 Jade Destremau, chemistry teacher and Eco Sisters co-ordinator Hannah Fay and Year 7 Tessa Pickett with the purple bins used to collect plastic bottles. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Santa Maria College’s Eco Sisters to have work shown in Parliament

Bryce LuffMelville Gazette

THE work of Santa Maria College’s Eco Sisters is set to be highlighted in Parliament.

The Attadale school’s co-curricular service group is for students looking to engage with the environment.

Co-ordinator Hannah Fay said the group, which has 130 active students, had introduced recycling, aquaponics, sustainable gardening, recycled craft and community engagement initiatives.

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“We have made Christmas decorations from recycled materials for local community groups, and last year we worked closely with the City of Melville and the Friends of Attadale Foreshore to plant 550 Banksia plants in the local area,” she said.

Eco Sisters has partnered with GreenBatch, which takes plastic bottles collected from purple bins at the school and melts them down for use in any standard plastic manufacturing machinery.

The group has also petitioned the cafe to switch to bio-containers, which will save about 150,000 pieces of the plastic each year.

“Next, we will be trying to engage with the community around further plastic recycling, as well as continuing our aquaponics and recycled crafts,” Ms Fay, a chemistry teacher at the school, said.

“We will hopefully also move into composting as well as the use of plastics and balloons around the college.”

With the statewide ban on single-use plastic bags coming into place in July, and a container deposit scheme on the horizon, Bicton MLA Lisa O’Malley plans to put the school’s efforts up in lights during parliament in May.

“I want to highlight how pro-active the school has been in this space and how the school is encouraging leadership,” she said.

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