It's Our Future
Solar Schools
Date Added:
25/09/2008
From July this year the national Solar Schools programme will enable every school in Australia to spend up to $50,000 on the installation of solar panels.
Blair School in Adelaide is one school who can advocate solar panels in schools. This school has 30 solar panels have been installed at this school for free.
Belair School in Adelaide has an Eco Schools program which enables students to get involved in sustainable and environmental activities. These environmental activities are part of the schools daily routine. Classes and teachers nominate environmental responsibilities and mange these programs during the year. There are approximately 60 Belair students involved in the school's environmental group; they all share their responsibility for keeping their school Eco aware.
Energy saving programs that Belair school have incorporated into their daily operations, can be used in any school, business or home.
- Blair has been able to reduce carbon dioxide emissions through the use of labels and timers on light switches.
- The installation of cent-i-meter's in convenient locations allow energy costs to be easily monitored. These panels are linked to the schools intranet and are accessible in all classrooms.
- They have been involved in Water watch programs, where students monitor local waterways like those at Belair National Park and Minno Creek.
- The installation of water saving devices has helped to conserve this precious resource. The importance of local catchments and waterways are highlighted around the school with drain stencilling around the school and several of the buildings are named after local catchments.
- Belair has also incorporated a great recycling program into the schools daily routine.
Belair school is very active in spreading eco awareness to areas outside of the school grounds. While the environmental team passionately promotes Eco School activities inside the school, they are also involved in forums like Kids' Congress 2008 and the SA Youth Environment Conference, which help to further promote ecological awareness.
Links to check out for more information:
- Belair School is an Eco School
- Solarshop