St Stithians’ seven schools are situated on a collective 105 hectare piece of land that over 3 000 students and staff make use of every day.
Due to the size of the schools’ property, there are many environmental concerns to make sure that its dams, bird and animal life remain protected.
“As St Stithians College, we have developed a strategic plan to be as carbon neutral as possible by 2020, and we think that this is a fantastic opportunity to create a learning opportunity for all staff and students.
To be successful, we all need to play our part and get involved,” said Rene Swart, head of operations at St Stithians College, at a meeting with local ward councillors and residents associations on 9 March.
Ward 104 councillor Mike Wood added, “I think there is a lot that the entire community can learn from what this school is doing and it is something that we can replicate throughout our wards and the city itself.”
As part of the education campaign, signage has been erected around the campus to assist visitors to these areas in identifying flora and fauna.
Some of the schools have even taken on the rehabilitation of birds and animals that have been injured and need to be looked after until they can be released back into the wild, and bat hotels and owl boxes to house these rare animals.
Swart continued, “We currently have two genets and a chameleon in our care, which will be released in two to three months, and at our bush school, Kamoka, two pangolins have been released into the wild as we monitor their movements to ensure they are safe.”
The school also has over 2 600 indigenous trees planted between 2011 and 2017 and has its own rehabilitation team of four staff members who are employed solely to remove alien trees and plants.
Swart added, “We also have three attenuation dams on campus to assist with slowing down of the water in our waterways and to reduce erosion.
“With the drought experienced in Gauteng in 2017, we purchased 10 000-litre water tanks and installed them at several points around campus, which allows us to harvest the water from the roof tops and use that water for flushing of toilets.
“Systems have been installed to help us monitor our water usage. This has showed us that we had a water leak on campus due to the amount of water that is being used late at night and into the early hours of the morning, and we are hard at work trying to locate this leak.”
In 2012, the school obtained platinum green flag status, highlighting its involvement in greening initiatives, not only within their own school, but also in the community.
The school has been recycling waste on its campus since 2008 and has managed to reduce the waste that they send to landfills by up to five skips per week, reducing the carbon footprint and preventing tons of CO2 emissions into the environment.
“We provide recycling stations around campus for our staff, parents and students to use.
They are provisioned by paper and wet waste bins in all classrooms and offices, and we also train our staff and students how to sort items, as well as the general benefits of recycling.”
Details: St Stithians 011 577 6000.
