GOING GREEN

The climate crisis can often seem dauntingly insurmountable, but Emanuel students have decided that inaction is not an option, and they’re willing to plant the seeds for change, writes Ms Preston

Let’s face it: thinking about the environment can often feel overwhelming and lead us to think ‘what’s the point? I can’t make a difference on my own’. But acting in the interests of the environment does not require you to have superpowers or to make radical changes. Any changes you make, no matter how big or small, are a step in the right direction.

This is the philosophy at the heart of our Eco Committee — a working group of Emanuel students across all year groups that meet weekly to identify the areas within our school where we can have a meaningful impact on the environment. As well as informing our school community about wider environmental issues, we also want to celebrate the successes and positive changes that are being achieved in the move towards a more sustainable planet.

Although discussing contemporary environmental issues does play a part in the Eco Committee, we believe that our main emphasis is about taking action to bring positive change for our environment. We are confident that it is the combination of all our efforts that will lead to positive changes for our school, our community, and our world.

Emanuel Climate Conference

The eco-year kicked off with the Emanuel ‘Eco Fortnight’, timed to coincide with COP26 global climate conference in Glasgow in November 2021. A variety of activities took place over these two weeks to recognise the climate crisis and its causes, and to encourage us to think carefully about what actions we might take to contribute towards a sustainable future.

A key event during the fortnight was the inaugural Emanuel Climate Conference, where Year 7 and 8 pupils took part in a series of engaging talks and discussions led by Sixth Form and Lower School pupils. Students spoke passionately about a range of environmental issues including fast fashion, the circular economy, the health of our oceans, and the impact of global food systems. In addition, pupils and staff were invited to make their own ‘climate pledge’, such as using active travel, planting trees, or avoiding single-use plastic to show how small steps can make a significant difference.

Celebrating Emanuel Biodiversity

The spectacular Emanuel Eco Garden continues to be a haven for those wanting to swap screen time for green time. As well supporting valuable pollinators such as bees and butterflies by providing pesticide-free food sources, safe shelter, and access to clean water, it provides an ideal location for educational activities across the school curriculum.

Our environmentally-conscious Gardening Club has been busy this year, sowing and planting an array of wonderful produce including Swiss chard, broad beans, tomatoes, purple pak choi, onions, spinach, carrots, rhubarb, giant sunflowers, sweet peas, nasturtium and lettuce!

The Eco Garden also provides a fantastic outdoor classroom for Emanuel pupils and our Primary Ambitions cohort. Lower Sixth pupils have used this vibrant ecosystem to teach local primary school pupils about biodiversity with hands-on activities, including surveying the pond to identify the plants, invertebrates, and amphibians that live there.

WasteLESS Week

Over the year around 360 pupils from Years 6, 7, and 8 have taken part in two ‘WasteLESS Week’ events to help raise awareness about what we can do as a school community to reduce food waste. In UK households we waste 6.5 million tonnes of food every year, 4.5 million tonnes of which is edible. This is enough to fill 38 million wheelie bins or 90 Royal Albert Halls! These are not items like eggshells or chicken bones but the last few bites that you can’t quite manage, or your bread crusts or potato skins — all the things which could have been potentially transformed into something delicious.

During WasteLESS Week pupils made sure to ask only for what they thought they could eat and to ensure that no good food went to waste at the end of their lunch. Stickers were awarded for each clean plate and those who committed to this continuously over the week were awarded with prizes in the Hampden Yard.

In April 2022, the campaign was a great success and the total plate food waste saved was 46.5 kilograms, which is equivalent to approximately 150 two-course meals. As well as this, we are thrilled to see that general food waste at lunchtimes has decreased considerably since November 2021 by nearly 100kg!

Meat-Free Mondays

Replacing meat with plant-based choices on Mondays is one way that Emanuel students and staff are taking action against climate change linked to meat consumption.

Did you know that:

• 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions are caused by animal agriculture?

• 70% of deforested areas in the Amazon Rainforest have been replaced with pastureland for animal grazing?

• 1kg of meat requires between 5,000 and 20,000 litres of water compared to only 214 litres to produce the same weight of tomatoes?

This initiative takes place each fortnight with Mrs Street and her catering team taking meat off the menu and serving healthy and tasty climate-friendly vegetarian and vegan choices.