No Carbon November: How our students are making a difference

Every child can make a difference and there is no better way for our community to take action than through sustainability.  Last month, our DCSZ students took part in EiM “No Carbon November” finding new ways to reduce our carbon footprint and make a difference to our environment. 

By developing and sharing new ideas with our family of EiM schools across the world, our DCSZ students can maximise their impact and feel part of something bigger than themselves.

“We need to put faith into action, knowing that while only being one small person our actions matter, and when combined with others we are a part of creating change.” -- d’Arcy Lunn, Group Head of Sustainability & Global Citizenship

Throughout this month, our DCSZ students have been considering their own carbon footprint and finding effective ways of contributing towards a more sustainable planet. An essential part of the Teaspoons for change programme is to re-enforce our core values of sustainability and empower students to feel that actions, however small can have a positive impact on people and the planet.

This is how DCSZ students grow, not just with outstanding academics but with a belief and passion for making a difference in the world.

DUCKS

For Ducks, students have growing and harvesting veggies in our DUCKS garden, making a healthy veggie dish, cutting down food waste making sure we finish our food on our plate daily and using our outdoor environment as a learning space.

JS

For Junior School, students participated in No Carbon Challenge and have a lot of fun. They almost completed all the tasks in the daily actions chart! Here is our Charlotte Griffiths, Teacher of Year 6 and Global Citizenship Lead, shares her thoughts and reflections with us:

"No Carbon November is an important time of year where we encourage students to carefully consider their actions and the impact they may have on the planet. This year, we hosted a No Carbon Adventure Challenge encouraging students to explore Suzhou in a carbon friendly way. I am so pleased with the participation of our students and their commitment to lowering carbon - it appears that they had lots of fun with their friends and family. "

Senior School

For Senior School, students in the sustainability society were tasked with planning and implementing events for the school to partake in during the month. The main events boiled down to Sustainable house debates, sustainable cooking, and days for no max-hub usage/reducing classroom carbon usage. The sustainable house debates were on the notions: "Should companies be taxed on their carbon emissions and other negative environmental impacts"; "Should the government tax the usage of single-use plastics"; and "Should we implement rules that force students to finish their meals". 

The only real 100% guarantee we have is not taking action, and then nothing can improve!