Isipathana College, also known as the “Green Machine”, is gearing up for the Dialog Schools Rugby League with their sights set on regaining the league title after a lapse of 3 years. The Havelock Town school is certainly no stranger to the sport, having won the most number of trophies, as well as producing players to the National grid. Planning for a Rugby season is no easy task, with all that takes place behind the scenes generally remaining in the shadows. However, the Rugby management and development committee of the school has planned to set an example by putting a huge effort to reduce the usage of plastic water bottles for Rugby games this year, through an initiative they have named ‘Green Rugby’.
Around 300 bottles are used on a usual game day, which results in the ground being badly littered after a game. Approximately 15 to 18 games are played annually (inclusive of league, knock outs and practice games and excluding junior tournaments), which has a substantial effect on the eco-system due to the excessive use of plastic bottles.
Under the concept of “Green Rugby”, the Isipathana team will try to use the standard 19L gallon instead of using 1L and 1.5L bottled water. The gallons will be kept beside the bench and 2 individuals will be assigned to keep refilling around 20 squeeze bottles to be used during a game. After the game, the gallons will be brought back to the school to be handed over to the water distributing agent, who will then hand over a fresh set of gallons for the next game. The pilot run of this concept was carried out during the Thurstan vs Isipathana Abdul Jabbar Shield game, which turned out to be quite successful. The Committee hopes to use this as an example so that other schools and sports teams may follow suit. The objective is to make the players as well as others understand the seriousness of plastic pollution and encourage them to reduce the use of plastic, creating eco-friendly alternatives.
The Isipathana Rugby committee has also appointed a panel to observe if these principles are met during matches, as well as to conduct research on improvements that can be made to this initiative and plan to ensure that this project will continue to be a success in the future as well.
