Rainwater Harvesting in Schools

Transcription

1 Rainwater Harvesting in Schools Update November

2 This year the Rainwater Harvesting Program reached its height. Eight schools entered into their third year, 8 more started their second year, and a final 8 joined the program. We are pleased to share with you the program's achievements, as well as a few of its challenges. First, a few broad strokes: Program is multicultural, with Arab (4), mixed Jewish Arab (2), Jewish religious (5), special education (2), Ultra-Orthodox Jewish (2) and Jewish secular schools (9). 267 youth form a Green Council, monitoring water saved and leading school activities in water and resource preservation. More than 9,100 students were exposed to the systems in 24 schools. 2,200 students from 8 school also had supplemental environmental activities. Over 1,300 cubic meters (or 1.3 million liters) of water have been saved since the program began. That's over 220,000 flushes! (note: Diagram is a model of the rainwater harvesting system) "We don't see a project like this every day a project that brings together Israelis and Palestinians. Not every day do we see a project that preserves the environment. Let us come together to preserve water, to preserve greenery, to preserve the relations between us, and we will be much better off." Yosef (Pepe) Alalu, Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, at the International Water Day event at the Ein Yael Living Museum 2

3 Positive ripple effects of the program: Recognition of the importance of the program and the emphasis on environmental activity by municipal and national authorities has facilitated the assimilation, implementation and expansion of the program. In addition to partnerships with local and national education authorities, the Ministry of Health has also recently released standards and directions for use of recycled water. This means that there is demand for using different types of recycled water throughout the country, and that its use must be regulated. It is also a sign that use of the rainwater harvesting and other water recycling systems will grow. The large scale presence of the program has led the municipal and national authorities to recognize the importance of the program, and the importance of emphasizing environmental activities, not only in the education system. This year the Jerusalem Municipality has issued an overall directive that all new building projects must take into consideration environmental building elements. In addition, each time that the Jerusalem Education Authority renovates school restrooms it calls on Amir Yehieli to separates the water pipes from the rest of the plumbing system, preparing the infrastructure for the possibility of the installation of a rainwater harvesting system. This shows the respect and professional reputation he has gained through this and other projects. The program is receiving special mention in municipal and national government studies. Environmental educational programs in Jerusalem, of which the Rainwater Harvesting Program plays a large role, received special mention in a report on the state of sustainability in Jerusalem: The education system in Jerusalem contributes significantly to raising awareness to sustainability among students in the city. The quantity and variety of programs on the subjects show the creation of a general awareness of the issue, and parents reported that they were satisfied with the programs. This report joins the commendations by the municipal and state comptrollers separate reports on environmental education. Professional development for educational and janitorial staff has generated large cadres of professionals dedicated to water and resource conservation over the long term. An environmentally-conscious atmosphere is noticeable in participating schools in the form of environment and water bulletin boards, posters and signs throughout the schools, and a multitude of projects from recycled materials that pepper the schools' public spaces. Children report a greater awareness of water and the environment. They took surveys of water and energy use, in their schools and at home. In the Jewish sector, the Ofarim school in Har Homa held special nature and water related activities at the neighboring riverbed for the entire school. Students at the Paula Ben Gurion school in Rehavia held their own nature-related activities in the Valley of the 3

4 Cross, which is opposite their school. The Henrietta Szold school continued to hold special activities in their adopted grove opposite their school. In the Arab sector, the Umm Tuba elementary school established a vegetable and spice garden. The A-Tur school is in the process of establishing a community garden that will serve the whole community. In addition, they now collect water in an ancient well that was found in the school courtyard On left: Installing the system in Umm Tuba On right: JNF instruction on International Water Day Specific Achievements thus far: This year 3 Jerusalem schools received Green School status Dror, East Talpiot B and Millawiya. All 3 schools are participants in the Rainwater Harvesting program. A fourth school, Hattie Friedland School for the Deaf, received its Green School status prior to joining the program. This title not only recognizes each school's comprehensive work in environmental issues and sustainability, it is also accompanied by a 10,000 NIS prize. This year, a large well that was found in the courtyard of the A-Tur School for Girls was hooked up to the rainwater harvesting system and collected some of the final rains of the season. The well is so large that it is expected that the school will be able to use harvested rainwater for all its irrigation and restroom needs. At present count, more than 1,300 cubic meters or 1,300,000 liters - of water have been collected since the beginning of the project. Many more liters of water have been saved by the replacement of faulty, leaking toilets with the installation of the rainwater harvesting systems. A comprehensive educational handbook was published in October A comprehensive web site is up in Hebrew and Arabic, and an English web site was launched: The site also includes the comprehensive educational booklet, with a range of lesson plans to help assimilate the material into schools curricula. A citywide event at the Ein Yael Living Museum included over 300 participants from 20 schools, including schools participating solely through Green Network funding. See: The heart of the discussion centered on the dilemma of water consumption in Israel. Workshops and activities were varied, with each of 4

5 the participating schools featuring their projects, some of which included: Self-irrigated plants, using recycled materials to harvest self-irrigating plants; Water conservation, learning how to best conserve water by being given 1.5 liters of water, which had to be sufficient for them to be able to clean their surroundings, wash hands, water plants, and so forth; Creating mosaic and other artwork from recycled materials. At the concluding ceremony, one Arab student from the A-Tur girls school in east Jerusalem, read a moving poem she composed, in praise of environmental conservation and sustainable development. She then read the poem in Hebrew, demonstrating how the issue transcends cultural and ethnic boundaries. Another moving highlight of conference featured students from The Hattie Friedland School for the Deaf who performed a dance that was orchestrated through sign language. The rainwater system at the Henrietta Szold School Integration of ancient and modern in the program curriculum. Two participating schools were fortunate enough to have close access to ancient remains relating to water. One, in A-Tur, was a large well that had been used to collect water for the village. This year the water collection system was hooked up to the well to store water, and the students learned how water was saved and used in their neighborhood, connecting to their local history, and how it can be used again with more modern methods of water collecting. At the East Talpiot B school, students, in partnership with the Israel Antiquities Authority, learned about the uses of water throughout history, and its importance to different cultures. They studied part of an ancient water canal that had been built by the Romans which brought water from springs south of Jerusalem to the Temple. They also learned about this system and its importance, and helped to clean and preserve the structure. School-wide programs targeted at the school and general community. At least 9 of the schools Jewish and Arab held very impressive school-wide peak days that featured not only issues relating to water, but a variety of environmental issues, from recycling, healthy eating and cooking, solar energy, and more. A number of schools adopted nature areas close to school grounds and the Green Councils held activities there for the rest of the school as well as members of the community 5

6 Scenes from International Water Day, From left: showing off a model system, doing experiments, making planters from recycled materials. Some challenges we've encountered: Introducing the project in Ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools and junior high schools. In the there had been a decision to introduce the program into Ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools and into junior high schools. We knew that this task would be more challenging than operating the program in elementary schools. Junior high schools in general have more required subjects and less flexibility in the curriculum than elementary schools. It is very difficult implement new secular subjects in Ultra-Orthodox schools, and many did not want to invest school resources in a nonreligious subject. Thus, even though the Green Network and the Jerusalem Foundation began searching for appropriate Haredi and junior high schools in the summer of 2012, we needed to continue the effort into the school year. These delays caused further delays in installing rainwater harvesting systems, and at least 4 systems were installed only in the spring, after the winter rainy season had ended. Beginning an educational program in the middle of the Success Story: The Green Council's monitoring at the Dror School in Beit HaKerem showed that not all the collected water was being used. So, at its own initiative and with its own funding, the school expanded the system so that more of the school's restrooms could use the collected water instead of freshwater. year also made it much more difficult to implement. Despite these challenges, by the end of the school year, we have 24 schools with rainwater harvesting systems, 23 of which are implementing educational programs with the guidance of the Green Network. Water measurements. The Green Councils have been doing a commendable job in tracking the water measurements in the systems, but there is room for improvement in accuracy. We believe that the new Internet site, into which schools from all over the country will input their rainfall collection data, will encourage increased accuracy and precision in measurements. One of the smaller schools that began last year is finding it difficult to maintain the program. It was decided that the school would continue to operate the rainwater harvesting system, but would not be a part of the educational programming led by the Green Network. 6