Eco-Schools National Eco-Committee Advent Calendar Day Five!

Our final day of introductions, introducing the final FIVE outstanding members of Eco-Schools England’s first ever National Eco-Committee. Remember the names of all 22 members, because we believe they will all be at the forefront of environmental action for many years to come! Read below, for their ideas on greening education!

Millie!

Art is an explorative subject but I believe they should integrate more climate awareness into skills building units. My school explores natural form and focuses on the beauty of nature – why not take this a step further? When discovering the beauty of nature, teachers should start conversations around how we can protect the world we live in. In Year 9, we explored the shape and form of bees, a step further would be to have an open discussion about our how bees in our local community are being impacted by the climate crisis – this would create awareness of the lack of biodiversity many communities are experiencing. Students could then do independent research on the bees specific to their area and how they are protected to later develop a sustained study. Students would be learning about their community in a fun and engaging way.

Rhiana!

I am passionate about saving the world. It is really important everyone on our planet works together to reduce humanity’s impact on our environment. Eco-Schools reaches out to literally thousands of schools around the world, with its message being delivered to hundreds of thousands of students. As a member of the National Eco committee my thoughts and enthusiasm for action could have a massive impact on my dream of a better world for us all to live in.

Shaan!

How can you expect young people to be interested and protect the planet if they have not learnt why it is so important for our survival of our world? At our school before I set the Eco-Committee up and championed eco issues at our school. I would say around 95%+ of the pupils were not aware of how climate change affects us. That is a lot of children! The environment affects us all and we all should be educated in how these changes affect us and what we can do to help change. How can we take responsibility for our actions as children or when we turn into adults if we have not been taught from a young age how fragile planet earth is?

Shaun!

The goals laid out in the Paris Agreement in 2015 are not on course to be met and this is not just the fault of our national leaders, but also us as individuals and our lack of action, and no matter the national and international policies laid out and agreed upon in the upcoming summit, we must do our part to try and meet and supplement these ourselves. While, I may not be able to reach the position required to make a difference on such a large scale, I feel it is my duty to try and do the most I can to raise awareness and reduce emissions at least in the circles where I have the opportunity. The National Eco-committee gives me the chance to do my part for our society and our world, ensuring that if not those in charge now, at least our future leaders will know the importance of the environment. Action is required now, from all of us.

Tharmesh!

It is extremely important to learn about the environment in school because if we don’t know what our planet is going through, the whole next generation may not even know that because of climate change, we have such extreme weather conditions and a lot more affecting us. Because of the Urban Heat Island effect, a lot of people don’t know why it is so hot, and so it’s good to let them know so they understand that we, as a team on Earth, need to start becoming more eco-friendly.