‘The Greening of Harrow’ continues into its 2^nd year

So what have the passionately green students and staff at Harrow been up to this year?

BCCT (British Chamber of Commerce and Trade) Green Conference
In term 1, some of our brave L.I.F.E. (Environment Club) students, Amy (K8), Boom (K8), Sandra (S9) and Kit (So9) made a presentation to a group of businessmen on ’How To Reduce Electricity Consumption’. Their video and theme of ‘It’s not difficult…it’s easy!’ provided plenty of humour and gave plenty of ideas to the audience to take back to their businesses. The British Ambassador was also part of the audience, and personally signed a pledge to reduce his electricity consumption to help the planet.

Hong Kong Green Schools Conference
Dr. Hensman sowed the seed for the conference and joined in presenting on the topic of ‘Green Schools’ to an International audience.

Triple Treat
One of the longest running projects keeps on going. Dr. Hensman invites Harrovians to put a plant in the Harrow grounds to celebrate their birthday and to support the fight against Global Warming.

Veggie Thursday
In term 2, every Thursday became a Vegetarian Day to promote eating less meat in order to save energy, feed more people and get healthy. Due to its popularity, Veggie Thursday has continued into Term 3 and it seems that we might need to have Veggie Monday, Veggie Tuesday, etc… next year!

L.I.F.E. T-Shirts and Cloth Bags
In term 2, the Youth Venture activity began designing Environmental cloth bags to replace plastic bags used at school and home. As those students began to focus on examinations, the L.I.F.E. students then took over this project and expanded it to include eco-friendly T-Shirts. The T-Shirts and Bags should be ready for sale at the beginning of September 2009.

Recycling & Reusing Paper
Year 8 Mathematics students began a weekly lunchtime rota in term 2 to collect paper from blue recycle bins in classrooms and offices. For their dedication in running round classrooms pushing a heavy wheelie bin, they have been awarded the House Community Award. The money raised from the sale of the paper has been given to the L.I.F.E. club to put back into other projects.

Green Idea A4 Paper
New GREEN IDEA A4 paper has now become the standard paper used for classrooms and offices around the school. Not only it is made from 70% Harvested Trees and 30% Recycled Wood Pulp, it’s also cheaper. Who said going green has to be expensive!

20/20 Water Challenge
A group of student from L.I.F.E. began an online discussion with a sister school in the USA on how to implement water-saving measures in their school, through an international youth project called the 20/20 Challenge. We hope the information gained from this study will be used to improve the school’s use of water in the next academic year.

Alternative Energy Expo
The L.I.F.E. students attended the Alternative Energy Expo at the Impact area, Muang Thong Thani in March to learn about the future of Renewable Energy, including the development and solar and wind power and its growth in Thailand.

Clinton Foundation
Mr. Towse initiated contact with the Clinton Foundation to find ways to fund large-scale projects to improve energy efficiency in the Harrow school buildings. The Clinton Foundation provides expertise in retro-fitting old buildings to be more energy efficient (such as the Harrow main school building and the sports hall). We hope projects will be commencing in the 2009/10 academic year.

GIN (Global Issues Network) Meeting
Mr Hardy, Mr Davies and Mrs Beer met with teachers and students from other International schools in Bangkok to share ideas and initiatives through the Global Issues Network. It was very motivating to see that many schools are just beginning to form Student Environmental Clubs.

Harrow Energy Challenge
Term 3 began with the launch of the Energy Challenge, which aimed to raise awareness across the whole Harrow Community about the need to reduce electricity consumption through:
• The Harrow Family Challenge with prizes for the largest % reduction in electricity.
• The Inter-House Challenge with a trophy, cloth bags and t-shirts as prizes for best overall House.
• The Harrow Buildings Electricity Challenge to reduce the whole school electricity use – the money saved over a month to be donated to the Active 10 Nan Project.
• Boys vs. Girls Boarding House Challenge with a prize of a shopping trip and lunch at MBK.

Can and Plastic Bottle Recycling Bins
In our ‘Green Assembly’ in term 3, students were introduced to the new can and plastic bottle recycling bins, twenty of which will be placed around the school ready for the New Year.

The Future
With ever increasing support from the students and staff at Harrow, we are hoping to set up an environmental shop at Harrow in conjunction with the Business Studies department. We hope the shop will provide a range of green and fair-trade products including our Cloth Bags and T-Shirts.

So ACT NOW to make a difference. You don’t have to join the L.I.F.E. Club – just show your support by doing your best to reduce energy waste in everyday life. Remember, we only have one Planet Earth…

Doing Your Bit
Here’s what you can do at home and in the workplace:

• Reduce air-con by using more fans (Air-con is approx. 70% of a household bill)
• Turn off lights in empty rooms (Lighting is approx. 10% of a household bill)
• Use an energy efficient fridge (Fridge is approx. 10% of a household bill)
• Use less water for washing dishes and clothes, showers, cooking and gardening.
• Help spread these ideas among your family and friends to make an even bigger difference

After all, it’s not difficult… it’s easy!

From the L.I.F.E. Club students