For World Earth Day, Margaret Perry, chair of the eco committee at Claremont School in East Sussex, explains why when it comes to green initiatives, the pandemic has given pupils real pause for thought
With today being World Earth Day, it feels like the perfect moment to stop and consider the unexpected, positive impacts that Covid-19 has had on our environment. In pursuit of Green Flag Status, we also reflect on what we, as a school, had achieved before anyone had uttered the word ?pandemic?.
At the beginning of the year, inspired by Greta?s work and remarkable address at the UN summit last September, pupils from years seven and eight decided to launch the Claremont Eco Store and what we believe is one, if not the first of its kind in a school. Having persuaded national suppliers to part with eco-friendly products at wholesale prices, to include shampoo, soap bars, reusable straws and bamboo ?truthbrushes?, the children quickly built a loyal customer base of parents and friends, returning each week to refill their bottles and try out new products. Working with charity onetreeplanted.org, the children used their profits to ?plant? trees in areas of the world most in need, and less than two months later, over 225 trees were donated to Kenya and then Australia to help the landscape recover from the bushfires that wiped over 20 per cent of the country?s broadleaf forests off the planet.
As we clapped for the NHS, the motorways emptied and planes were grounded. Nature healed an...