Contact Us
- Sandra Aiken
- HICES NSW/ACT Executive Assistant
- 0418 884 346
- admin@hices.nsw.edu.au
To be held at various locations across the centre of Sydney and surrounding suburbs.
For Year 7 – 12 students from all HICES schools
For more information: admin@hices.nsw.edu.au
Teachers: Please visit the Staff page
By Cayla and Antonia | St Euphemia College
Have you ever heard the story of the hummingbird? No? Well listen close…
One day a terrible fire broke out in a forest – a huge woodland was suddenly engulfed by a raging wildfire. Frightened, all the animals fled their homes and ran out of the forest. As they came to the edge of a stream, they stopped to watch the fire, and they were feeling very discouraged and powerless. They were all bemoaning the destruction of their homes. Every one of them thought there was nothing they could do about the fire, except for one little hummingbird. This hummingbird decided it would do something. It swooped into the stream and picked up a few drops of water and went into the forest and put them on the fire. Then it went back to the stream and did it again, and it kept going back, again and again and again. All the other animals watched in disbelief; some tried to discourage the hummingbird with comments like, “Don’t bother, it is too much, you are too little, your wings will burn, your beak is too tiny, it’s only a drop, you can’t put out this fire.”
And as the animals stood around disparaging the little bird’s efforts, the bird noticed how hopeless and forlorn they looked. Then one of the animals shouted out and challenged the hummingbird in a mocking voice, “What do you think you are doing?” And the hummingbird, without wasting time or losing a beat, looked back and said, “I am doing what I can.”
Our world is a raging bushfire. Global warming, climate change, and an ever-growing mountain of rubbish we call pollution is continuing to threaten our home and future generations. But we too, can be like the hummingbird. We too, can be a small spark of change, a droplet of water. Our actions may seem insignificant and ineffective, but they are a powerful first step to healing our planet. Let us share what we learnt at the 2024 Sustainability EXPO.
We were excited to see what Day 1 of the EXPO had in store for us. Our first destination was Michael Mobbs Sustainable House. Michael talked us through his life work of creating and installing sustainable electricity and water systems, which are all functioning and saving him tens of thousands of dollars a year. As solar panels are the most used sustainability product in Australian households, he received no opposition to their installation, but he did receive opposition from Sydney Water about his water system – as this decision would mean he no longer would be paying for water like everyone else. Did you know that thousands and thousands of litres of water go into growing and producing the food we eat? Michael explained how unnecessary it is to be so wasteful.
He showed us his beehives and we met his chicken, Penny. He showed us his “Cool seats” which are compost systems he uses to grow food and/or flowers. There is a sliding seat on top of the bin which seals in the odour of the contents completely. We thought these would be an efficient and interesting idea to introduce on campus as not only would they provide somewhere to sit but they would provide and interactive gardening experience for our students.
Our next stop was Banish. As soon as we walked inside, we saw huge buckets filled with different coloured bottle caps. Did you know that each bottle cap has a different density which explains how durable it is. Some caps can’t be reused so they recycle them instead. The bottle caps are broken down and made into products like mini planter pots, pens, and carabiners.
The visits gave us a lot to think about. It was also great meeting students from other scools and finding out what they were doing in the sustainability space.
On Day 2 we regrouped at the beautiful Hills Grammar School in Kenthurst. The campus is beautiful with luscious greenery, outdoor music equipment, and believe it or not, electric carts to help you get around!
The keynote speaker was Ben Dessen, Wildlife Advocate, Pet Expert, Author, Presenter and Director and General Manager of the Hills Wildlife Sanctuary. Ben talked to us about the threats endangering our native Australian wildlife. Did you know 38 species have become extinct in Australia in just the past year? During his talk you could not miss how much Ben loves all the unique critters in the world. He showed us that we all have the power to positively impact our world, and that it all happens by just putting in the effort to start. His journey from high school student to Director and General Manager of the Hills Wildlife Sanctuary was inspiring and ignited a spark I’ve not seen before in the group of students.
We were also lucky enough to have Sophia Skarparis aka PlasticFreeSophia, speak to us. Sophia, a 21year old university student, is a youth change-maker with a passion for combating plastic pollution. At age 14, Sophia collected over 12,000 handwritten signatures to support banning single use and heavy retail plastic bags in NSW. She talked about her visits to the local council, to the courtroom, and how she stayed passionate and positive pursuing her goals. The students were in awe of all she had achieved.
Day 2 of the EXPO was insightful and a lot of fun. We got to hear from two amazing speakers about their journey from school to today but also go to meet and mix with many other students who share the same passion.
We cannot wait to put into action all the plans we have to make our school more sustainable and greener. We have great plans and dreams for our ever-growing school. From bin audits to 10 cent return and earn bins, and even a study app that will help grow trees. St Euphemia and its sustainability team have a goal to make our school a better place, one that will add large amounts of water to our raging fire.