College praised for commitment to sustainability

Students Organising for Sustainability, a charity which encourages young people to take part in ‘green activities’, has praised the college for its Sustainability Week, which raised awareness about environmental issues.

The charity has officially commended the college for its efforts, and has given the team a £100 prize.

“One of the ideas from the student council this year was to have a sustainability week, and we decided to run this in the week commencing with Earth Day,” explained the college’s enrichment co-ordinator Rosie Baldwin-Jones.

She arranged a series of activities throughout the week including a Monday morning quiz with eco-friendly anagrams and picture clues, and visits from Shropshire Wildlif Trust and Climate Action Hub Telford.

Local education charity Save our Shropshire also ran games and activities about carbon emissions and production of food and items such as cars, phones and clothing

And the college’s catering provider Aramark ran a ‘wipe out waste’ workshop, where they demonstrated innovative recipes using ingredients that might otherwise go to waste.

This included carrot peel muffins, bread end pudding, and brussels sprout slaw.

The week-long programme also included a game of ‘bin pong’ to promote the college’s use of compostable food packaging, where students had to match different types of packaging with the correct coloured bin.”

A spokesman for the charity explained: “Back in March, students and staff from across the Colleges West Midlands group gathered for a ‘Student Leadership for Sustainability’ training day which explored the critical importance of environmental sustainability and its intersection with other social justice issues.

“Students were then tasked with developing plans for projects or campaigns to raise awareness of environmental concerns and promote actions students can take to make a positive impact.

“Over the summer term, these dedicated students, with the support of their college staff, worked diligently to bring their plans to life.

“We are proud to recognise and celebrate the outstanding achievements of these colleges and their exceptional contributions to sustainability.”