Project Zero kicks off
Our School Environment Captains and Eco-Schools Committee report back on our progress towards the ambitious aim of as carbon neutral as possible by 2026.
This half term has been a landmark one for the Eco-Schools Committee as we launched our new initiative, Project Zero. By our 150th anniversary in 2026, we aim to ensure our buildings are as carbon neutral as possible, limit our use of single use plastics and significantly reduce our contribution to landfill. This includes taking innovative steps towards becoming plastic-free and changing the way we view and dispose of waste, so that our school’s impact on the environment is reduced as much as possible.
Eco-Schools is a global programme that engages millions of children across 67 countries with the goal of increasing environmental awareness by reflecting on and improving the school environment. We have already achieved the Eco-Schools bronze award, and have begun our pursuit of the silver award, starting with covering environmental issues in at least three areas of the curriculum, so that the whole school becomes environmentally conscious. A key part of Project Zero is our battle against waste, including firm action against single use plastics. It is not enough to simply recycle, as up to half of recyclable waste ends up in overseas landfill, so we need to cut down our usage.
After half term, we are ending automatic access to disposable plastic cups – they will only be available on request from the canteen. We hope that this will prompt students to consider their use of plastic, and ask all girls to bring in a reusable water bottle in order to stay hydrated. We have designed and ordered our own reusable, compostable and BPA free water bottles, which will be on sale from the canteen from just £4, with proceeds funding our Project Zero campaign. We also aim to find more efficient ways to dispose of our waste, such as investing in equipment that can compost the food waste from the kitchen to be used in local allotments and our own garden. The Lower Sixth Design & Technology class is currently working on designing waste-stations which will help ensure that waste is disposed of correctly, and that we recycle all that we can. The cutlery and takeaway boxes in Oakwood are now biodegradable, and it seems that environmental awareness is spreading among the Sixth Form. It is very encouraging to see so many now bringing in reusable coffee cups – we want to promote this as much as possible and work towards stopping use of the disposable ones which cannot be recycled.
We are proud that the school is becoming steadily more conscious about environmental issues; we delivered an assembly last Monday, which was hopefully another step in spreading awareness. We are always looking to recruit more eco-warriors, so if you have ideas about Project Zero, or would like to help combat environmental issues, then we urge you to get involved. Eco-Schools meets every other Wednesday at 1:30pm in the 7th floor pod and all pupils are welcome to come along and help create a sustainable future for South Hampstead.
Article by Uma, one of our Upper Sixth Environment Captains, one of the many leadership roles available in the Sixth Form.