Dulwich Puxi Says No to Single Use Plastic.
For a young community, Dulwich College Puxi students have an incredibly influential and persuasive voice, leading the challenge on SAYING NO TO PLASTIC, which is the number one environmental concern for students, followed closely by reducing the amount of waste we produce as a society, and animal protection.
“Since kindergarten we have been taught to be active recyclers. We are learning about renewable power alternatives and we are well informed about the effects of pollution on our planet. We know more about climate change than any other generation before us. And we have strong views on what we want and need for our planet. There is no Planet B,” says Hattie, senior school student and one of the College’s sustainability student leaders.
Over the past 12 months Dulwich Puxi students have achieved amazing success in their commitment to removing single use plastic, and reducing the amount on waste produced at the College campus. They have banned single use yoghurt tubs – effectively removing more than 31,350 single-serve plastic yoghurt tubs from the college waste stream. Large volume yoghurt is purchased and served each day in ceramic pots, instead of single plastic tubs.
They have also banned all plastic straws, take-away coffee cups and plastic lids. All beverages are served in ceramic cups and visitors to the College are reminded to bring their own water bottles to refill as required. Again, literally tens of thousands of single use plastic items have been removed from the waste stream.
Senior School students, Isabel and Jemima recently created PIANO; Plastic is a New Opportunity - a brilliant platform which aims to take single use plastic waste like water bottles and plastic bags, melt them down and reform them into multiple use items like cups and stationary holders using the College’s 3D printers. Their idea was developed for the Dulwich Pioneering Spirit Award – a global competition worth 300,000 RMB to senior school students who can demonstrate the ideation, development and execution of their own sustainable business initiative, which can benefit the environment. Jay, Curtis and Yap were this year’s youngest ever winners of the global Pioneering Sprit Grant with their business idea called Farmbot – a robot which manages all aspects of community farming – from seeding, to watering, to harvesting. The Farmbot is being built on campus and will be in operation later this year. Produce grown by Farmbot will be served in the College restaurants demonstrating students’ attempts to achieve a more sustainable existence.
Students across the College learn and understand the need for a more sustainable existence; in the kindergarten food scraps are fed to the worm farms, which in turn feed the College gardens. Further up the College, senior students are engaging in aquaponics to further supply nutrients to the College gardens. They have also started Hydroponics as a way of growing small plants, ie basil, using water instead of soil. This saves space and the herbs can be used in their weekly cooking classes. They also manage a solar powered rain harvesting system where water is collected into a tank and when full, is automatically used to water the plant beds. This is powered by the solar panels, which are also attached to battery store.
The students have their eyes set on future goals too, which include Meat Free Mondays. They calculated that just 1 meat based meal a day at school for 38 weeks of the year creates 78.29 tons of CO2 per year. To combat the effect of this, we would need to plant 390 trees! Meat Free Mondays are a way of reducing our carbon footprint by 15.66tons of CO2. It is in the pipeline and certainly something they are working towards. They are also working on compost bins for the main restaurant to ensure that more food waste is harnessed for nutritious fuel for the gardens, to encourage more green growth.
Dulwich College Puxi students are active advocates for sustainability and environmental protection. On 17 – 19 May, they will welcome 100 students from other Dulwich campuses for a 3 day action-packed Eco Camp featuring practical and innovative workshops, student-led activities and inspirational speakers to fuel their fight to a greener future.
For more information about student activities and initiatives, please contact our dynamite leader on sustainability, Miss Grace Stewart at Dulwich College Puxi.
德威浦西：向一次性塑料说“不”
对于年轻的社区来说，德威浦西的学生有着令人难以置信的影响力和说服力，他们带头发起了对塑料说“不”的挑战，这是学生们最关心的环境问题，其次是减少社会垃圾及动物保护。
“从幼儿园开始，学校就教导我们要做个积极的回收者。我们正在学习以可再生能源来替代，我们深知污染会对地球造成的影响。我们比之前的任何一代人都更了解气候变化所带来的影响。对于地球想要什么，需要什么，我们有非常清晰的想法。地球只有一个。” 中学部的Hattie说道，她是学校可持续发展的学生领袖之一。
在过去12个月里，德威浦西的学生们在杜绝一次性塑料及减少校园垃圾方面取得了极大的成功。他们已经成功禁止了一次性酸奶塑料盒的使用，有效地在校园垃圾源里减除了31,350只一次性酸奶塑料盒。取而代之是订购大量酸奶并以陶瓷杯为容器，而不再使用一次性的塑料盒。
此外，他们还禁止使用塑料吸管、咖啡纸杯及塑料盖子。所有饮品均以陶瓷杯供应，我们都提醒来访者需自备水杯，以便按需续杯。这样一来，成千上万个一次性塑料垃圾得以制止，学校垃圾源又减少了一处。
最近，中学部的Isabel和Jemima提出了PIANO的创意，PIANO是Plastic is a New Opportunity的缩写，即塑料是新的机会。这是一个非常出色的平台，通过收集塑料瓶及塑料袋等一次性塑料垃圾，熔化后利用学校3D打印机将它们重新塑造成杯子和固定架等多用途物品。她们的创意是为“德威创业先锋奖” 而设计的，这是一个奖金达30万元人民币的全球性竞赛，旨在鼓励高中生从创意、发展及执行方面展示自己的可持续商业计划，从而造福环境。Jay，Curtis及Yap是今年 “全球创业先锋” 竞赛中最年轻的获奖者，他们的商业创意是 “Farmbot” （农场机器人）——一个管理社区农业各方面（从播种、浇水到收割）的机器人。目前，学校正在建造农场机器人，预计将于下半年时候投入使用。由农场机器人种植的农产品将在学校餐厅供应，展示学生们为可持续发展做所的努力成果。
整个学校的学生都在学习和理解可持续发展的必要性。在幼儿园里，学生们用食物残渣喂养蚯蚓，滋养学校的花园。高年级的学生正在从事养耕共生系统的研究，进一步为学校花园供给养分。他们已经开始利用水培法（无土栽培）种植罗勒等小型植物。这种种植方法能够有效节约空间，种植的草本植物将用于学校每周的烹饪课程。此外，他们还管理着一个太阳能雨水收集系统，雨水将积聚在水箱中，水箱满了之后，就会自动给植物床浇水。这一系统由太阳能电池板供电，并连接着电池箱，能够存储电能。
除此之外，学生们也着眼于未来的目标，其中一个目标是 “周一无肉计划”。他们通过计算得出，学校每天一顿含肉午餐，以一年在校38周来算，总共会产生78.29吨的二氧化碳。为了消耗这些二氧化碳，我们需要种植390棵树！“周一无肉计划”是减少15.66吨二氧化碳排放量的有效方法之一。目前，这一计划正在酝酿当中，这是学生们正在努力的方向。他们还为学校大餐厅设计了堆肥箱，希望将更多食物残渣变成花园肥料，从而建立一个更加绿色的生态系统。
德威浦西的学生是可持续发展和环境保护的积极倡导者。5月17日至19日，他们将迎来100名来自其他德威校区的学生，共同参加为期3天的生态营，活动内容丰富多彩，涵盖实用及创新工作坊，学生为主导的活动及鼓舞人心的演讲嘉宾等等，旨在为更加环保的未来而奋斗。
更多关于学生活动及倡议的信息，请联系我校可持续发展主任老师Ms Grace Stewart。
Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi
上海德威外籍人员子女学校
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https://shanghai-puxi.dulwich.org/
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