Green Day: An Overview

On Thursday 26th March 2009, pupils from Bishop Heber High School participated in “Green Day.” This involved numerous activities to highlight the problems of climate change and to emphasise the need to protect our environment in order to preserve it for the future.

The main focus of the day centred around “Earth Hour”, which is held annually on the last Saturday of March. This is an international incentive for households and businesses, along with world famous buildings e.g. The Eiffel Tower and the Sydney Opera House, to turn off their lights and electrical appliances for one hour in order to conserve energy and reach the target of reducing carbon emissions by 5%. Twelve Year 8 Eco-Reps took part in a conference call with the WWF and each asked a question in order to find out what the organisation was doing to fight climate change, as well as publicising the event with T-Shirts with the slogan, “ Sign up and switch off.”

Also in Period One, citizenship lessons took place linking to environmental issues, pledge sheets for recycling and conserving energy use, to which some pupils drew posters about what they thought the government should do to tackle climate change. Several members of staff have pledged to turn appliances off stand- by and overall be more efficient in their energy use. Light Switch stickers supporting “Earth Hour” have been appearing around the school, with catchy slogans, “Turn off the lights, save the world.”

“Green Day” however is not just about energy consumption; it is also concerned with food and sustainability. Mr Lowe held a “Fair-trade” tuck shop at morning break, selling a variety of all vegetarian “Fair-trade” products. When asked, four fifths of pupils preferred “Fair-trade” chocolate to other mainstream brands. If you are interested in buying “Fair-trade” produce have a look in your local supermarket or alternatively talk to Mr Lowe who owns his own green shop in Birkenhead and donates all profit made to a community centre to help those less fortunate than ourselves. The school canteen also got on board the project by organising a locally sourced roast dinner, supporting local farmers and producers.

Mr Roberts donned a pair of Wellingtons and headed outside to plant a small patch of trees in the rain with some wiling pupils, helping the “Green Day” cause by helping to combat deforestation and as trees reduce CO2 levels. Our Spanish exchange students learnt about Darwin, Evolution and the environment in various lessons throughout the day and were thoroughly looking forward to their locally sourced lunch.

Overall “Green Day” was a great success, with pupils of all ages being enthusiastic about the cause and the various activities throughout the day. Here’s looking forward to next year!!!