Head of Environment William Law switching off lights to mark Earth Hour.
getting worm farms established in six areas, calculating the carbon footprint and working with other schools on river clean-ups and tree plantings.” As a result, in 2008, the school was awarded a Bronze Enviroschools Award. Over three to four years, Graeme and the committee also coordinated an end-of- year Environment Day where all Years 9 to 10 students opted into service and environmental groups, ranging from tree planting to helping at Willowbank Wildlife Reserve. He says for several years College
has marked Earth Hour with a range of school activities. “There was a bit of a hiatus following the 2010–11 earthquakes, but about 2016 things got moving again, and we had an active Environment Committee. We set the goal of running an unplugged concert at College and were given permission to set up a stage on the Quad. “Musician Claire Oliver coordinated a range of acts from students across the city and I managed the logistics and student volunteers. All the lights and PA were run from solar-
charged batteries. It was an awesome night.” In 2018, James Newton was made Head of Environment and, together with his father, Physics teacher David Newton, established the plant nursery. It has led to a partnership with the Eco-Action Trust and the recent red zone planting programme. More recently, Graeme says he has established a new group of staff and students, the Carbon Committee, which has focused on writing a carbon policy for the school, and setting up a process to monitor and report on the institution’s carbon emissions.
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SUSTAINABILITY
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