YEAR 9 commerce students at Bega High School are helping their contemporaries in Bali, Indonesia, have clean water and reduce plastic waste.
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Under the program Bottle for Botol, every time an Australian student sells a stainless steel water bottle, the purchase also pays for one to be given to a student in Bali.
The money also goes towards buying a water dispenser in Balinese schools, so students can fill up their new bottles again and again.
“It’s taking steps to giving people fresh water,” student James Pearce said.
“The operation in class is going very well.
“We’re all working together, there’s no problems, no arguments.
“We are just getting the bottles out there.”
A sister school Bega High has been paired with is SMK Negeri 4 Negara, a senior high school that focuses on producing nursing and healthcare professionals.
Bottle for Botol was started to combat the plastic waste in Bali.
As water from taps in the country is unclean, students buy 220ml plastic “aqua cups”, which have to be disposed of after use.
By giving students reusable bottles and purified water dispensers, it is hoped this will cut down on waste.
One of the Year 9’s units is promoting and selling, and commerce teacher Sean Yeo said the Bottle for Botol project fits in by substituting textbook work for real life selling and promoting.
The students market and sell the bottles, which they have been doing at lunch time in the school since the items arrived last week.
The bottles cost $20 – with one to the buyer, and one sent to Bali - and Mr Yeo said his class aims to sell 600 of them.
Bottles can be bought from the students and they will also be sold at the SCPA Market on Friday, while Mr Yeo and his class are preparing a business plan to market them into the wider community.