Environmental not-for-profit City to Sea launches a new education programme ‘Rethink Water’ to guide students on how to save water and protect the environment. Our population is growing fast, and climate change is bringing greater risk of both drought and flooding. We all need to change how we understand and value water.
The Rethink Water programme, which is free for schools and has been created in partnership with Southern Water, will initially launch as a pilot project with 6 schools across Southampton and will then roll out to over 300 schools across the South of England in the next 18 months.
The project comes off the back of the award winning Rethink Periods campaign, also supported by Southern Water that saw City to Sea roll out a free, nationwide schools programme updating mainstream period education in primary and secondary schools offering unbiased and informative information on all products available and the social and environmental contexts of menstruation.
Natalie Fée, the CEO and Founder of City to Sea commented, ‘Young people are leading the agenda on the climate and ecological crisis and no longer accepting the inaction of older generations. This is our effort to help arm them with the information they need to be the best possible ambassadors for the changes we need to see. I hope with a better appreciation of the high-quality water coming from our taps we can empower the next generation to be part of the #RefillRevolution and turn the tide on plastic pollution whilst saving water.”
Why should schools sign up?
- Signing up to the Rethink Water programme will help schools achieve the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals targets and to achieve the UK Government target of schools going single-use plastic-free by 2022. Being part of the programme will also help schools be recognised in the International Eco Schools Green Flag award.
- Designed by teachers, for teachers, the programme will help uncover some of the facts and myths about bottled and tap water, educate children about why they should refill and reuse containers and enable them to discover top tips on how to save water.
- The resourcesavailable free of change include assembly packs as well as “big water day” activities and lesson plans for English, Maths, Geography and Art.
- Crucially the resources also encourage the kids to take the eco messages home with them to be pioneers of change in their own community with stickers and certificates to collect and the chance for a few pupils to win a ‘Refill Chilly's X’ water bottle for an outstanding contribution to the Rethink Water passport competition.
How to get involved
- To apply for the Rethink Water programme, teachers simply need to contact City to Sea via the Rethink Water website hub.
- If you’re a passionate about educating young people on topics around sustainability it's also possible to register as a Rethink Water ambassador and deliver the Rethink Water assembly in schools.
Making a splash
- The Rethink Water programme is a key part of Southern Water’s Target 100 – an industry-leading demand reduction programme.
- Southern Water aims to reduce their customers’ water consumption to just 100 litres per person, on average, per day by 2040. This would equate to reducing water consumption by 30% of current levels, which are already some of the lowest in the UK.
- At the same time, they aim to reduce leakage by at least 15% by 2025 and 50% by 2050.
Dr Toby Willison, Southern Water’s Director of Environment & Corporate Affairs, says:
“We’re delighted to be once again working with City to Sea to launch these innovative learning resources after the huge success of the previous school education programme Rethink Periods.
“Our region faces a future of more people and less water. We know our population is growing fast, and climate change is bringing greater risk of both drought and flooding. We all need to change how we understand and value water, and we believe in young people and that they can be some of the best ambassadors in our communities to drive that change.
“This is all about how we can work with them to help them to protect their futures.
“Water efficiency, managing water demand and scarcity, is a core part of our strategy going forward and this schools engagement is an important part of our bold initiative, Target 100 – which is our commitment to customers to support them to reduce personal consumption to 100 litres per day. The Rethink Water programme is the perfect way to introduce this to the younger generation.”
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For more information or to arrange interviews please contact City to Sea’s Media Manager, Steve Hynd on 07903569531 or email [email protected]
Can we add a line here that Toby is also available for interview?
Notes to editor
- About City to Sea: City to Sea is a not-for-profit that campaigns to stop plastic pollution at source. To find out more about City to Sea, please visit https://www.citytosea.org.uk/.
- About Rethink Water:Rethink Water is a free education programme for key stage 2 students to educate and empower them to reduce water consumption and tackle plastic pollution. https://www.refill.org.uk/rethink-water
- WATCH THE Rethink Water film here:https://vimeo.com/wovenfilms/review/599624029/5e6350e9ab
- About Refill: Refill is an award-winning campaign to help people live with less waste. The campaign connects people to places they can eat, drink and shop without the pointless packaging. Anyone can download the free Refill app to tap into a global network of places to reduce, reuse and refill. From a coffee on your commute to drinking water on the go, or even shopping with less plastic, Refill puts the power to go packaging free at your fingertips. The app lists over 280,000 Refill Stations around the world. https://www.refill.org.uk/.
- Southern Water provides water and wastewater services to 4.2 million homes in the South East of England. It supplies 532 million litres of drinking water every day to more than two million customers and treats and recycles 717 million litres of wastewater for more than four million in Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.Water is essential to every aspect of our lives – for drinking, cooking and cleaning. Southern Water is proud to be at the heart of managing water and wastewater services. The South East’s water supply faces big challenges. It’s a future of more people needing water and wastewater services, with less water to go around. Southern Water’s vision is to create a resilient water future for customers in the South East. Its purpose is to provide water for life to enhance health and wellbeing, protect and improve the environment and sustain the economy. That’s why it is acting now for the challenges ahead. We are proud to work with charities in the communities we serve. Find out more about Southern Water: www.southernwater.co.uk