Make A Change. One Teaspoon At A Time.
As educators we would be ignorant and irresponsible if we did not teach your child about our planet’s environmental crisis, and how we have ruined the planet for our children and their children. It is impossible for us to ignore that in the next 50 years there will be animals that will no longer exist, parts of countries underwater, and air pollution so bad that some countries will simply become un-livable. There is too much evidence from experts to tell us otherwise. So with this knowledge, we must focus on change for good. Small teaspoons of it. Manageable and repeatable acts by young children and families on a daily basis. And when done by all 9,000 families who call Dulwich College International their school community, we are certainly making small but significant changes to support our planet’s survival.
This week in the College our students and teachers had the benefit of working with an amazing educator, ambassador and environmentalist, d’Arcy Lunn. d’Arcy works with governments, global NGOs and schools across the world with a very single target and purpose – to educate about sustainability. This is d’Arcy’s second visit to Dulwich College Puxi working with our students and teachers on Teaspoons of Change - small but significant ideas, attitudes and actions that will have a positive impact on people and the planet. Most critically, during this visit d’Arcy’s has worked with us on curriculum innovation.
The 400 year history of Dulwich and the reason Dulwich continues to be one of the world’s successful education groups is because of our integrity for academic excellence AND curriculum innovation. We strive to keep our curriculum relevant to the changing needs of the world in which we live. We link with colleges and universities on an annual basis to ensure this long continues. d’Arcy has reviewed Dulwich curriculum documents for all year groups, and has layered these with sustainability learning. Your child will continue to get the best British international education available, now with a stronger sustainability lens. This is one more step towards helping your child Learn Worldwise.
d’Arcy's Tips
d’Arcy has some simple tips for you to support your child’s future. Remember, if we all do the little things, great things can happen.
- Reduce our food waste. Don’t buy or cook more food than you need. One of the most effective ways to mitigate climate change is to reduce your beef and lamb consumption, and don’t over buy or cook more food that you need. Simple. If more humans could follow that advice, we would be on the way to a slightly healthier planet.
- Stop buying STUFF. It’s really hard to say no to stuff, because when your peers have a new phone or a set of shoes that you aspire towards all the while being surrounded by advertising, it’s hard to ignore. But try to create a culture within your year group or school showing that you honour people who swap clothes or buy from sustainable and ethical brands and that would make a huge change. Students have huge power in what they buy and how they influence each other.
- Make it small yet significant – turn lights out when you leave a room. Have a shorter shower. Say no to single use plastics like straws and plastic cups. When you look at the dangerous amounts of carbon emissions around our Earth, saving energy is exactly what our planet is asking us to do
