Bentleigh Secondary College

After his hiring, Bill immediately started reviewing the practices and policies that were already in place, and worked with the college leadership team to target key areas where the organisation could be more sustainable.

The first area Bentleigh targeted for action was its water usage. After a water audit the college implemented a number of water management improvements, including flow restriction devices on taps, waterless urinals in for both students and staff, and two water tanks which store 50,000 and 125,000 litres and are used in place of potable water to flush toilets on the campus. The school also uses HydroShare, a water-monitoring program, to record its water usage and identify leaking pipes.

In 2007 the college approached the state government for support to install a solar photovoltaic system. After a letter of rejection for their request to gain additional funding on top of the $4000 rebate, Bentleigh lobbied for further funds and were instrumental in the introduction of the Victorian Solar in Schools program, which made five million dollars available to 500 schools over four years. Bentleigh became the launch school for the program, and also became the test bed for various hardware trials to monitor the solar panels’ output, eventually resulting in the formation of the Sunskool dashboard web interface.

The college opened its wetland in 2009 using partial funding from the Urban Stormwater Authority. This wetland is used not only for habitat and biodiversity, with over fifteen species of birds having settled in the area, but also as another aspect of Bentleigh’s water management techniques, annually treating six million litres of water which then goes to Port Phillip Bay or through a sub-surface irrigation system for the college’s soccer field. The wetland is also used as an educational tool, with open-air classes being held in the wetland and its amphitheatre.

As well as the wetland, Bentleigh is also in the process of creating an urban forest, using 2000m2 of the college grounds to create an area featuring trees and undergrowth that would have existed in the area prior to European settlement – planted so densely that students will be able to sit in class in the centre of the forest and not see a single building.

The school also uses a harvest garden as an educational and sustainability tool. Composed of twenty garden beds made of plastic from the school’s recycled toner cartridges, the garden is used to educate students in sustainable food growing practices and the importance of healthy eating, while the food grown is harvested and used in their home economics classes.

Bentleigh’s use of the HydroShare program to monitor its water usage helped identify a loss of 6,000,000 litres of potable water per year, which was rectified by locating and repairing old and leaky pipes around the school.  By 2010 the school had cut its water usage by 93% and saved nearly $30,000 in water and sewage charges.

By implementing a solar system to generate power (with excess power being sold back to the power company), the college has generated over 27,300 kilowatt hours and avoided over 36,000 kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions – the equivalent of an average passenger car being on the road for nearly eight years.

The college’s wetland treats about six million litres of water annually prior to its entry into Port Phillip Bay or use in irrigating the school’s soccer field.