Written by Bianca & Daria, Year 10
Planting Trees with Prep School Children
Two weeks ago, many of us eco-committee members had the opportunity to help the gardeners plant trees. The trees were planted on the side of the car park to provide a valuable food resource and habitat for many animals and to increase biodiversity. However, we weren’t alone! A few girls from the prep school joined us to help with the hard work, together we planted roughly 30 trees!
We planted Dog Rose, Dog Thorn and Hazel trees, to help improve our carbon footprint as a school and created habitats for our many animal visitors. We set out several different types of plants to increase the biodiversity at OHS.
GDST Eco Conference
On the 12th November, many members of the Eco committee embarked on a journey to Blackheath High School in London. This was where the 2024 GDST Eco conference was held. This conference is held every year to talk about what each different school is doing to be more eco-friendly, and come up with new ideas to reduce our schools’ carbon footprint. A few guest speakers were invited, and we participated in the following courses:
Sustainability in Architecture
Firstly, an architect talked to us about how he was making/designing buildings and their construction more eco-friendly. During this lecture, the architect described in detail the steps his team took to lower the carbon footprint of a recent project. He also explained how he overcame the challenges he faced in the building of this intricate structure.
Sustainability in Fashion
Next, a fashion designer talked to us about the obvious problem of fast fashion. She mentioned how to improve the carbon footprint of fashion including the 5 R’s (reuse, recycle, repair, rent, reduce). We all found this very useful as it was the area where we could make the most difference. In addition, the designer showed us statistics about the landfill in some of the poorest countries, which was eye-opening.
As part of sustainability in fashion, the OHS eco committee took part in a course, teaching us how to fix broken or ripped clothing in a colourful and imaginative way.
Our Forward Thinking Lunch
With this new embroidering skill up our sleeves, we headed to lunch. We were positively surprised with what was for lunch: our delicious lunch was served on all edible material! The plates were made of wheat bran; the cups were made of oat and grain and the straws were made of rice flour. Edible tableware is better for the planet because it has the potential to decrease the reliance on plastic products, leading to fewer chemically harmful pollutants being released into the environment.
European Honey Bee
After lunch, we had a very interesting talk about bees, especially the European honey bee. We learnt about how pollination is actually performed by the bees. The speakers told us to be aware of Asian hornets which could potentially harm the rest of the bee population- keep your eyes peeled for them!
3D Printer Using Recycled Plastic
Nearing the end of our stay, we had the opportunity to plant various cacti. The plant pots were cleverly constructed by using shreds of plastic bottles in a 3D printer. We had lots of fun choosing, decorating and naming out plants.