It has been a challenging term on the eco front, largely due to lunchtime Covid-19 restrictions that have seen both students and staff eating boxed lunches and using plastic cutlery. However, we were delighted that a number of forms entered a competition to see who can use the least plastic cutlery from October Half Term through to Christmas.
7H emerged as the clear winner (saving 284 sets of cutlery from going to landfill), thanks to the efforts of Ida; but 8S also deserve a special mention for rinsing and recycling all their plastic lids and pots (thank you to Mr Lonsdale and Clara for organising this). As a result of everyone’s efforts, over a thousand sets of plastic cutlery were saved.
The Year 10 Eco Club (Charlotte, Naomi, Lola, Isabelle, Jessica and Amelie) have also continued to meet up every week, sharing ‘green’ ideas, and discussing ways to make a difference here at OHS, with the main emphasis currently on reducing waste. In addition, a Google Classroom has been set up for Green Reps across the school, to facilitate communication and the sharing of ideas.
Perhaps most excitingly, our extraordinary group of Year 12 Germanists (Eleanor, Lizzie, Lili and Amy) won a staggering €5,000 for a sustainable project at the school and have plans to plant apple trees, purchase an apple press, and eventually start producing OHS apple juice.
Finally, thanks to Mlle Hilary, the staffroom has at last been set up with a clear system for separating waste. With three clearly labelled bins, we are now all able to separate recycling and food waste from landfill. We thought we should make sure that the staff were getting it right, before launching another campaign for the whole school in the New Year!
