We all know that food consumption behavior has a decisive impact on our ecological footprint. Going vegan or going vegetarian can halve CO2 emissions.
Moreover, it helps to eat regional and seasonal produce, because this helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions considerably. Informing students about the ecological benefits of consuming apples from natural fruit meadows can motivate them to reflect on the environmental contribution of bees in terms of maintaining biodiversity.
Most of us know using public transport is better for the environment. Car journeys contribute significantly to our carbon footprint. So students as well as teachers should go to school by bus, by bike or simply walk to school and thus learn about the positive side effects this can have on our physical and mental health.
Trash (litter) follows us everywhere we go. We constantly generate waste at home and at school. Even while at school every student and teacher can have a major impact on the amount of litter produced by becoming aware of how much we throw out and changing some of our habits when buying and using things. Some of us already pack no-waste lunch in reusable containers instead of plastic bottles and sandwiches wrapped in plastic. Scientists have reported about the negative impact plastic has on our health as well as on our ecosystems. But we should also avoid overconsumption, because throwing away food that could still be eaten isn’t just a waste of money, it also costs precious resources, has a negative impact on the climate, threatens biodiversity and can contaminate our soil with micro-plastics.
Thus the two chosen plays will hopefully help to raise the awareness of key issues closely connected with climate change and help us start taking action against habits that have a negative impact on our environment.
We are going to present two short plays:
Damon Chua – STEAMING SESSION IN A SINGAPORE SPA, a dark comedy which focuses on one of the key issues of climate change: rising temperatures.
Elspeth Tilley – LIN AND ASH, about student activism against the negative impact of litter.
By staging these two plays in the beginning of our event, we want the audience to become aware of topical issues connected with climate change. We also want them to act in line with sustainability principles so we agreed on four points to tackle climate change at school:
- There will two days without meals containing meat in our mensa. The motto will be: “Go Vegan! / Go Veggie!”
- Our (school) kiosk, which is run by students, will try to offer regional and seasonal fruit and apple juice throughout the term (and we hope beyond this term).
- We will initiate a week in which students voluntarily go to school by using public transport or by bike or simply walk to school.
- A “Zero-Waste Day”, in which students try to produce less waste and take their waste back home again.
