The SE Qld high school students taking up the climate challenge
They have battled through a pandemic in the most important year of their school lives. But these high school leaders face an even bigger challenge. We talked to senior students across southeast Queensland about climate change and what they’re doing to make a difference.
Environment
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Their senior school years were thrown into disarray by Covid-19, but our 2021 graduates rose to the challenge.
Yet their biggest challenge, a warming world, lies ahead of them.
In the wake of Friday’s national schools strike for climate event, which saw hundreds of students converge on Brisbane’s King George Square, we talk to young leaders from across southeast Queensland about their views on climate change and what they hope to do to tackle it.
Their words and actions inspire hope that Gen Z have what it takes to stop runaway global warming.
SPRINGWOOD STATE HIGH SCHOOL
Year 11 student Katherine Ellison is making a difference in Logan as the school’s Activist State President.
“Our environment is our everything,” she said.
“Our home, our food source and our community. Our existence is dependent upon its wellbeing.
“I strongly believe that to protect and nurture the environment is protecting and nourishing our future.”
She is a part of a number of initiatives promoting care environment conservation at her Logan school, including the house recycling challenge Back to Earth.
That project involves students recycling organic waste through composting and worm farms to rejuvenate soils within the school’s gardens, as well as tree-planting, creating possum boxes for wildlife and recycling paper for use in pet stores and at partner primary schools.
“I think that people at school and at home should go out of their way to take care of the environment,” she said.
“If we all contribute, even in a small way, we will be a step closer to ensuring our goal of a healthy, enjoyable lifestyle not just for ourselves but for future generations of people and wildlife.
“Making a difference can be simple, like conserving water and energy usage, reducing waste and cleaning up our environment.
“Being an active guardian of our world can also be satisfying when you see your contributions making a difference.
“Planting trees, growing your own food and reducing our carbon footprint are all things I have found enjoyable.
“I think we all need to remember that together we can make a positive difference.”
She is also committed to conserving the environment outside of school.
“To take care of the environment in my daily life at home, my family is committed to recycling and reusing items,” she said.
“We also try to minimise use of plastic bags and repurpose them if we do use them.
“We conserve water and minimise the use of airconditioning both at home and school.
“Electrical items are turned off when we are not using them and I also make sure that I pick up litter and dispose of it correctly.”
ST JOHN’S ANGLICAN COLLEGE, FOREST LAKE
St John’s Anglican College Year 11 student Laura Odorici runs the school’s Lids For Kids recycling program, where plastic bottle tops are turned into prosthetics and other useful items.
She said it was one of the small ways she helped the environment and helped stop the warming of the planet.
“I put in about two to three hours a week. The lids are dropped off at the school and we have to clean and sort them,’’ she said.
“I get a group of my friends to help and also students from other grades.’’
Laura, who has been leading the program for two years, said she also did things such as passed down her old school uniforms so they weren’t thrown away, held on to shoes until they no longer fitted or fell apart and ate less meat.
“It’s always at the back of my mind that the world is changing,’’ she said.
“It makes me feel good to think I am doing something at my end ot help.’’
St John’s also has a partnership with Ocean Crusaders, a local Queensland environment group, to turn discarded plastic into “bricks’’ which could be repurposed as park benches and other items.
STUARTHOLME SCHOOL, TOOWONG
Year 12 student Emma Barry is captain of Stuartholme’s Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Group, which has environmental sustainability as one of its four goals, and is passionate about taking on climate change.
She helped introduce different recycling bins into the school, including containers for change bins, and upcycling of old clothes with the profits ploughed back into other worthy projects at the school.
She is also passionate about the school’s Urban Farming Club.
“We started recycling bins this year and last year we started Containers for Exchange — it’s been a slow burn, but so far we’ve raised about $430 with the money earned going back into the school,’’ she said.
“I’d like to make the bins more visible so people are reminded about them.
“This is also the second year for our second-hand clothing stall.
“We get old school uniforms and re-purpose them into Christmas ornaments and scrunchies which we sell at the end of the year.
“The second-hand stall was a great opportunity to educate people about the environmental impact of clothing.’’
Emma said they had installed an aquaponics system and garden beds near some hedges which were already being irrigated.
They were also thinking about getting bee hives, particularly native bees.
“I know climate change will impact on the job market I’m going into,’’ she said.
“I live on the Earth and I would like it to not collapse around me.
“I believe everyone has to get involved. We need governments to reinforce the individual efforts of people — there’s no point collecting things for recycling, for example, if there is no way for them to be recycled.’’
BRAY PARK STATE HIGH SCHOOL, BRAY PARK
The Year 11 students are part of the Brisbane northside schools’ environment committee.
The 17-year-olds are proud to be leading the way when it comes to both younger and older generations.
Climate change and its effects are a big part of their studies, with emissions target and urbanisation front of mind.
“I think it’s important we’re making steps towards zero emissions, “ Miss Bennett said.
“In geography we’ve been looking at sustainability and how we can make the world a better place.
“And with the environmental committee we’ve been really trying to make the school more sustainable, so putting in paper recycling bins and can bins and beehives.
“Climate change is very bad now and it needs to be addressed over the coming years.”
Miss Makings said it’s important students start learning about climate change from a young age to ensure future action.
“Climate change is really bad, we all learn about it for multiple years at school and how to combat it but no one really puts in little steps to achieve it and if we all just do little things step by step it will decrease,” she said.
“We’ve grown up with it, even in primary school it was mentioned, it wasn’t as detailed as what you learn in high school but we were always trying to do something, like gardening or having lots of plants and stuff like that and now that’s extending on to high school.
“We need to try and fix this as much as we can, making sure we’re trying to do our part as much as we can.
“We’ve also been tackling urbanisation and we all know the population is increasing and we want to make buildings and things like that more sustainable that way it’s not as hard on our environment.”
Recently, the students from Bray Park State High School got their hands dirty during some development works on campus.
The environment committee leading the way with the replanting of shrubs and trees – they even got involved in a bit of lobbying.
Principal Peter Turner says an old gum tree on site was due to be cut down until the students stepped in.
“The arborist deemed to have it cut down but the students lobbied me and the construction people,” he said.
“We’ve since converted that tree into a habitat tree where birds can nest, there’s possum boxes and flora and fauna can live happily.”
The teens are hoping the small steps they’ve been taking at home and in school will not only make a difference but inspire others to give it a go.
“We’ve been trying to take little steps … recycling as much as possible at home, using less energy, having solar panels,” Miss Bennett said.
“It’s really nice to be able to leave a legacy in the school and make a difference.”
Miss Makings agreed.
“(We’re) educating people as much as we can, like doing these presentations at school, so they can almost be inspired by it and do some of the things that we’ve done and make better choices.”
ST COLUMBAN’S COLLEGE, CABOOLTURE
Year 11 student Trinity Cory is a part of the St Columban’s College environment committee.
“In the environment committee, we all work as a team to try and better the school’s environmental impact,” she said.
“They (the committee) openly accepted anyone and we all work together as a team to try and make a change without forcing it on to people.
“We’ve informed students on their own environmental impact and given them options on how they can reduce that by using reusable containers for example.”
She’s taken the knowledge she’s learnt in the classroom back home as well.
“Personally I try to reduce as much waste as I can and try to recycle where I can,” Miss Cory said.
“I also have my own garden and compost so we can reduce even more waste and grow our own food without having to buy food which is in plastic storage.
“My parents are really supportive, they helped me getting the garden started up and reducing the plastic we have in the house, they’re fully on board.”
The school has previously partnered with Tangalooma EcoMarines- Environmental Education Programs.
Miss Cory said the committee even took part in a social media takeover as part of the experience.
“We made social media posts about the impacts of plastics in the ocean and ways we can reduce that by simple things like tote bags such as simple use plastic bags,” she said.
As for the future, Miss Cory is encouraging all generations to be more mindful.
“Think of what you would want your future to be and what you want the world to be because if you keep damaging it, what is it going to look like in the future,” she said.
ST EDMUND’S COLLEGE, IPSWICH
Student leaders in the Ipswich region are taking steps to better understand the impacts of climate change and to reduce the city’s environmental footprint.
St Edmund’s College house captains Hayden Bacon, Kobie Low, and Dan Fordham said it was crucial every person did their bit to create a better tomorrow.
“(Climate change is) going to directly affect our lives going forward, so it’s something that we all need to be conscious of as young adults going out into the world next year,” Mr Low, 17, said.
“Everyone should do their piece to reduce emissions and create a more climate-neutral world.”
Mr Fordham, 17, said decisions that may seem small in the grand scheme of things could change the world in time.
“Lots of small things can equate to a big thing,” he said.
“In a number of years we could look back and say ‘I’m glad we did those things because we would not be in the place that we are now (if we hadn’t)’.”
One key way St Edmund’s College is looking to make a difference in the climate future is with its recycling project.
Mr Bacon, 18, said all students at the school were involved with a local not-for-profit organisation founded by an ex-student, Down to Earth.
The charity aims to turn ‘trash into treasure’, taking donations of 10c cans and bottles to fund food and other necessities for people who are homeless.
“We’ve got bins set up around the school and the boys just chuck their empty bottles into the bins, and then we go through them in the afternoon and take the lids off and clean the bottles out,” Mr Bacon said.
All of the recyclables are then donated to the organisation.
“We want to reduce as much waste as possible because that’s a key source of climate change,” Mr Low said.
“Especially when plastic waste is incinerated.
“Just reducing those emissions, especially through the recycling program, not only aids climate change (action), but it helps a lot of the community at the same time. It’s a twofold benefit.”
Mr Bacon said he and other Year 12 students at St Edmund’s College were now in talks with the incoming class of 2022 to make sure they continue to effect positive change.
IONA COLLEGE, WYNNUM WEST
Students at Iona College have been doing their part to improve their environment for more than a decade and that continued this year through the works of youngsters such as Gabriel Sampaolesi and Alistair Mylne.
The Year 10 students were selected to be part of the Community and Wellbeing Portfolio, something Iona has run for 11 years, as well as another Lord Mayor program to help make meaningful change.
“The portfolio has focused in recent years on tree plantings and nesting boxes around the wetlands surrounding the school, to increasing native animal populations” Gabriel said.
“This year, as Year 10s, we were selected for a unique opportunity to develop our leadership skills and benefit our community at the same time through The Lord Mayor’s Youth Environmental Leadership Network.
“The Lord Mayor’s Youth Environmental Leadership Network has been a focus of the two of us over this year and we’ve loved getting further involved in the community through managing a small project.
“We decided that whatever our project should be, we could use the Confraternity Cup (a Queensland Rugby League tournament) as a foundation and launching pad for our project.
“We took on the idea of compound bins – general waste, recycling and containers for change – like we see around the CBD and parks.
“This plan was already in development within the portfolio since 2019 under the guidance of vice-captain Rory Andersen.
“Other projects and difficulties in developing the bins with limited resources have slowed and hindered the completion of the project, but we were confident in our event launch.
Unfortunately, due to the lockdown in June, the Confro carnival was cut short but the pair still found a way to make a difference.
“We still had over 1000 plastic bottles collected in one and a half days,” Alistair said.
“Prolonged regulations have also slowed the completion of the bins, but we’re hopeful of having bins around the school before the end of November, corresponding with the end of the school year.”
MORETON BAY COLLEGE, MANLY WEST
Despite their age, these Moreton Bay College students know the importance of addressing climate change and doing their part.
MBC Year 6 students Emma Williams and Mila Petrovic have taken it upon themselves to make changes to their everyday lives to help the environment.
To help decrease the results of climate change, we recycle many items, we don’t use airconditioning frequently, and when we do, we lower shutters and curtains,” Mila said.
“We reduce the use of plastic, we do not use chemicals in the garden or in the house, and we use solar energy through our solar panels.”
While Emma has also taken similar steps.
“Our family home has solar panels for electricity and hot water, rain water tanks are used to water our garden, plants and trees are a substantial part of our surrounding environment,” she said.
“Composting is also something we undertake and make sure we use this to feed out fruit trees.
“We recycle everything that we can by collecting empty bottles at school I help to reduce the amount of waste going into landfills which would have released toxic gases into the atmosphere.”
Mila also said everyone could take similar steps to address what she called a “major global issue”.
“Some of the actions you can take on a daily basis include planting lots of trees to minimise carbon, investing in energy-efficient appliances, powering your household with renewable energy, reducing water waste and food waste by eating what you buy, and don’t use power outlets if your devices battery is full,” she said.
“If more people take these small actions, it could be a good start on stopping climate change.”
MORETON BAY BOYS’ COLLEGE, MANLY WEST
This Brisbane student believes climate change is the most important issue facing humanity.
Yeah 12 Moreton Bay Boys’ College student, Daniel Minett, said through assessment and class material, he has been able to learn and analyse the science behind climate change and its impacts both locally and globally.
“Some actions which I’ve taken include being a member of my industrial union and helping to support workers in other industries fighting for environmental protections and an immediate end to the fossil fuel industry,” Daniel said.
“Through this, it has been crucial to recognise the role that everyday people play in the fight for climate action instead of limiting ourselves to individual changes based upon personal choices or pleading for bureaucrats to ‘turn green’.
Daniel said he would love to see radical reshaping of where resources are allocated to and which industries we prioritise as a world in the next three years.
“To this, I’d like to see the international fossil fuel economy be shut down, with larger, democratically controlled investment into renewable energy for all countries, ensuring clean energy for everyone,” he said.
“Alongside this, I’d like to see the world’s militaries go through the process of demilitarisation and disbandment until every last weapon of war is recycled for life and not death.”
BRIGIDINE COLLEGE, INDOOROOPILLY
Year 11 student Amy Manthey Year 11 said Brigidine’s environment club had taught her how to reduce her carbon footprint through many small choices and actions.
“I have been reducing my contribution to fast fashion by op-shopping and donating my old clothes instead of throwing them out,’’ she said.
“Not only does fast fashion impact the environment as leftover clothing is either dumped or burnt, 93 per cent of brands also aren’t paying their workers a living wage.
“Textile production contributes to more climate change than aviation and shipping.
“By stopping buying first-hand clothing, I strive to create a small step of change for our environment, world and future.”
Brigidine Year 10 student Maya Pianta said her generation, Gen Z, was much more aware of climate change than any other.
“We are aware of what we do, aware of how it affects others and specifically our planet,’’ she said.
“Our generation is told we are ‘the future’, the ‘generation to end climate change’, ‘climate activists’ in waiting, yet many feel like their actions don’t matter and don’t change anything. “As teenagers, we think we can’t make a difference in a world we must live in for decades to come.
“However, that doesn’t mean that we aren’t part of the change.
“Every sustainable, environmentally conscious decision we make is a step closer to a healthier planet.
“My house is full of these little decisions. All in little containers and bins.
“I chose to create a family compost bin, properly recycle, recycle soft plastics, collect containers for change, and have countless containers and bins filled with bottle caps, bread tags, and makeup products for recycling.
“I’ve participated less in fast fashion, opting for op-shopping and recognising what I’m buying is unnecessary and over-consumption.
Brigidine College participates in the Lord Mayor’s Young Environmental Leadership Network, which aims to create more sustainable and eco-friendly schools.
“As representatives, my partner, Maddie Minty and I are implementing a school-wide composting initiative to reduce our school’s food waste,’’ Amy said.
“With the introduction of nine collection points and two compost bins, our school can divert 52l of food waste from landfill weekly to use in our college gardens.’’
AMBROSE TREACY COLLEGE, INDOOROOPILLY
Year 8 students Nathan and Joshua are Enviro Warriors.
The pair are just two of about 30 students who spend time each week working in Ambrose Treacy College’s “Gully Precinct’’, planting, nurturing, and caring for the natural habitat.
In recent years the gully, which runs directly into the Brisbane River and is part of the Witton Creek catchment, has been transformed into a tropical paradise.
Hundreds of native flora species have been planted and tended, pathways built, the wooden bridge reconstructed and the canopy of established old trees pruned and cared for.
Due to this work, a number of native butterflies and birds which haven’t been seen in the local area for decades, have returned.
Nathan and Joshua work under the guidance of ATC Old Boy Alex Davies, who said he was pleased a new generation of green thumbs was emerging at the school.
And even though he is only in Year 8, Nathan has taken younger students under his wing and helped pass on what he has learned about caring for the planet.
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