On 14th July, I had the pleasure of visiting King Edward VI Academy in Spilsby to support their inspiring Green Day! This was the second Green Day I had attended for the David Ross Trust, the first being at Malcolm Arnold Academy. I have loved working with the Trust’s lead for Geography to include Another Way in these days.
The energy across the school was incredible, with the entire community getting involved in activities focused on becoming better global citizens, and exploring how they can tackle the climate crisis at both local and regional levels.
I worked with the Year 7 students, who were diving into the theme of food. During our Another Way session, we looked at a number of themes. Firstly, we explored the journey of food from farm to fork focusing on a burger, covering the environmental impact of this compared to other sources of protein. We then looked at the role of healthy soil in food production and climate mitigation. We chatted all things worms, and used our portable wormery to demonstrate how these awesome little creatures help to spread nutrients through the soil – and how having healthy soils helps not just food production. After that we focused on food miles: not just the distances travelled but also the type of transport used. Finally, we discussed food waste and how we can all work to reduce this at home and school. Throughout each part of the session we thought about what it really means to be a conscious consumer and how our choices can have positive impacts on the planet.
The pupils were curious and engaged as we looked at how different types of food production can impact our carbon footprints. They were particularly fascinated by the amount of carbon output that can be saved by reducing our food waste! However, my favourite reactions of the day were to the soil sniff test! The horror of being asked to sniff jars of soil, which turned into realising that healthy soil that containing organic matter has a rich soil smell – compared to poorer quality soil that has almost no smell at all – was a great part of my day.
It was so encouraging to see the pupils reflect on how their everyday decisions can shape a greener future. Lots of the students pledged to reduce their meat consumption by having a meat free day, or to reduce food waste at home by being creative with their leftovers! What a wonderful day to end the academic year of workshops.
By Elli Clarke
The workshop also featured in the school newspaper – see the clipping below!
