Worthing secondary school environment campaign makes incredible start

Durrington High School have made an incredible start in its campaign to make the school more environmentally conscious. The school set out to collect 1.5kg of glue sticks and pens in the first month. They have so far collected 8.5kg, which will be sent to recycling firm Terracycle where the items will be made into purchasable items like playground equipment and watering cans. Geography teacher, Hannah Townsend said: “As a school we are committed to reducing our carbon footprint and educating our students about the ways in which we can make a positive contribution to tackling the issue of climate change.

“Encouraging the recycling of items not previously recycled is a great starting point and we are delighted with the response so far.”

The school also has a team of eco ambassadors, led by Miss Townsend. The group is made up of Year 9 students, who meet once a week and sort through the glue sticks and pens ready to send to Terracycle.

Eco ambassador Cassie De Riddler joined the group because “the statistics are shocking and I wanted to be part of something that helped. It feels good to be doing our bit.”

Miss Townsend and the eco ambassadors also remind staff and students to turn of all unused electronics. Hannah said: ‘We need to embed behavioural changes to make a difference.

“It is amazing the difference that can be made if everyone makes small changes.

“This project is not a short-lived initiative, it is about changing people’s behaviour permanently and embedding energy saving habits in the daily life of our school.”

As well as collecting glue sticks and pens, the campaign includes informative assemblies, alerting both students and teachers to many alarming statistics and informing them on how to make a change.