Education is at the heart of Earth Day. It is also an inherent part of Ashden and our winner’s work. We have three amazing carbon-cutting school among this year’s finalists; St Faith’s Primary in Cambridge, Sir George Monoux College in Walthamstow, London and Ashton Vale in Bristol.
To celebrate Earth Day this year, we thought we’d ask some of the pupils what they have learnt so far by being part of a carbon-cutting school.
Ashton Vale have done some amazing posters about the importance of being ‘green’, below are a couple of our favourites.
Sixth Form College, Sir George Monoux has an outdoor Eco Gym that the students can use to charge their mobile phones, so they already experience first-hand the tangible effects that renewable energy can have on everyday life. The Student Eco Committee is made up of 15 students who run carbon workshops for all the other students to raise awareness, and the Buildings Manager does the same for other staff members.
Earth Day falls on the first day of a new term for St Faith’s Primary School in Cambridge. After an Easter holiday with more work to insulate buildings and to service boiler controls, the school will start the summer term with a lower carbon footprint. It will also be opening the new greenhouse which has a fantastic location in the centre of the school and next to the school kitchens. The first seedlings – provided by the catering team – will be planted and they will be putting some of the herbs grown elsewhere in the school to use in the school kitchen.
With the good weather hopefully upon us, there should be fewer car journeys to all the schools, with more pupils and staff using bicycles and park and ride buses. St Faith’s is even starting to make biofuel from old cooking oil from the school kitchens to run the school minibus and grounds machinery.
Another term then, but a celebration of Earth Day with less energy use, the start of home grown produce in new greenhouses, more walking to school and seeing more children get excited about helping to save the Earth.
