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9 August, 2016 14:55
Queensland Urban Utilities has joined forces with Tangalooma EcoMarines to challenge Raceview State School students to Turn to Tap for the health of Moreton Bay.
The 960 students are the first in Ipswich who’ve promised to carry a reusable water bottle every day and fill up on tap water.
Queensland Urban Utilities spokesperson, Michelle Cull, said it was a simple way for students to help the environment and stay hydrated.
“Reusable water bottles are a better choice because they don’t end up in waterways where they can harm animals like turtles and birds,” she said.
“Another benefit of carrying a reusable water bottle is it saves you money. Tap water costs less than one cent per litre compared to up to $3 per litre for bottled varieties.”
To help the EcoMarines achieve their goal, students were asked to design a bag tag to remind them to pack a reusable water bottle for school each day.
Queensland Urban Utilities received more than 400 entries from year one right through to year six.
“The designs were very impressive but we had to choose a winner and that was year five student, Kelsie Biggam,” Ms Cull said.
“Kelsie’s fun design features a turtle that understandably prefers to eat jellyfish over plastic!”
Queensland Urban Utilities has now produced bag tags for the whole school featuring the winning design.
Kelsie was named the winner at a school assembly held on Monday 9th August.
All other students who entered the competition received a Queensland Urban Utilities reusable water bottle.
Raceview is the first Ipswich school to take up the Turn to Tap challenge, but it’s hoped others will follow.
*Healthy Waterways
Four Turn to Tap Facts
- Australians spend more than $600 million on bottled water every year.
- Tap water costs less than one cent per litre compared to up to $3 per litre for bottled varieties.
- Disposable plastic bottles require significant amounts of fossil fuels to manufacture and transport.
- It takes up to seven litres of water to produce just one litre of bottled water.