Preparing the students for eco-friendly world
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IN my role at the British International School Shanghai, Puxi, I meet many students who are passionate about protecting the environment. In my experience, today’s young people are eager to both learn about and discuss current environmental issues that the world is facing. I strongly believe that all young people are able to initiate significant change in the world around them; they just need to be given the guidance and the empowerment to start.
A recent biology field trip gave a group of Year 12 students the opportunity to visit Mountain Longwang in Anji Province. While carrying out data-collection in beautiful natural surroundings, students were able to experience first-hand the environmental impact of plastics and litter, allowing them to engage in the local and global issue of the amount of plastic we use. As they were carrying out their data collection in the rivers they also collected litter, especially plastics which would have otherwise ended up in our oceans.
The field trip tied in with a student-led project within school which aimed to raise awareness for this year’s “World Water Day.” The students planned and prepared different ways to inform the school community about the importance of water conservation and empowering others to do something about it.
They also decided to raise awareness about environmental and energy-saving issues in general. In particular, they focused on the amount of “hidden water” that is required to produce everything from the food we eat to the cars that transport us around the city. Students made the point that through saving water we also save energy and vice versa. A whole-school approach was adopted for this project, covering both the Primary and Secondary campuses, with daily facts, activities, and discussions to raise awareness. One activity involved creating a water-bottle sculpture, which was made and filled with water bottles, highlighting the number of plastic bottles that are unnecessarily wasted in a school. Re-useable water bottles were sold to coincide with this installation, with the goal of raising money for the charity “Water Aid.”
We all live very busy lives and this project gave a chance for each member of the school community to reflect upon their own impact on the environment, and to realize that we can all make a difference and contribute to change. Many cross-curricular links were made with the theme of environmental sustainability and conservation, with different departments delivering a variety of themed lessons all highlighting the importance of water conservation and being eco-friendly. This really engaged our students and they were able to explore the way in which environmental issues can be understood and tackled from a wide range of academic disciplines.
It also empowered students to empower each other.
Here, one of our Year 12 students, Leo Michel-Grosjean, shares his views on the environment, and puts forward a challenge to us all: “I am strongly devoted to protecting the environment and I hope to grow up to help industries transition to a more sustainable future. Regarding climate change, I believe every action taken makes a difference. Here at the British International School, eco-friendliness and tackling climate change is greatly supported, giving me the opportunity to launch my challenge. The key is to start adopting simple habits now, which hopefully will start coming naturally. In all problems there lie solutions, and in this case the solution is so simple: don’t waste! Do not use a paper cup if you have a reusable water bottle; switch off the lights during the day and open your curtains; switch off the lights when you walk out your room or office; do not waste paper; and lastly, be more conscientious about what you buy and where it comes from. If all of you reading this article today adopt these simple actions, we can help to save the world.”
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