For our Environment Chapel this week, we focused on the impact our waste, particularly within school, has on the environment. Although the most environmentally preferred approaches to tackling our waste are reducing, reusing and recycling, unfortunately this is not always possible, leaving us with the fourth approach of proper disposal.

Too often within school, rubbish gets placed in the incorrect bin, contaminating the contents, preventing any of it being recycled at all. Naturally, due to the busy school days, proper waste disposal is often neglected. Our main aim of this chapel was to inspire girls to start engaging with simple actions they can take in their everyday lives to reduce their negative impact on the environment.  

We shared many shocking statistics that highlighted the harsh consequences our actions have on a global scale, as well as addressing how waste is addressed in school. Here at Calne, we recycle cardboard, plastics, cans, and glass. Currently, 60% is recycled and the other 40% ends up in general waste. Our goal as a school is to reach the 75% benchmark over the next year, leaving only 15% ending up in general waste.

To help reach this target, we provided the girls with suggestions of changes they can make in their daily lives. This included an app available to download on your phone called ‘Good on You’ which helps you see whether the companies you are buying items of clothing or jewellery from are truly sustainable. The app not only informs you about the carbon footprint the companies leave, but also how ethical they are with regards to the treatment of workers and the use of animal products. Alongside this, we also suggested what girls could do within school, such as rinsing plastic waste before putting it in recycling and making use of the clothes bank we have on site.

Furthermore, to really start making meaningful progress we are launching a new Eco-Group. This will be open to all year groups, encouraging as many people as possible to get involved and start educating themselves about the importance of caring for our environment. Annabel and I have come up with lots of exciting ideas for the coming year, but we’re also really keen to hear from other girls. Our main aim is working towards an Eco-Schools Award, within which we will work on many smaller projects, hopefully with some trips incorporated as well!

For those who may not have time to get involved with the Eco-Group, we’re also planning to have notice boards in houses and in the main school where we will update everyone with our progress as well as providing statistics on how we are getting better at reducing our level of waste as a school. Most importantly, there will be a suggestions box where anyone can write down ideas they may have in relation to becoming a more sustainable school. We’ll then discuss these ideas at our Eco-Group meetings and try to incorporate them into our projects and plans.

With all this in mind, we’re really hoping we’ll soon start seeing lots of positive change around school.

Thea and Annabel (LVI)