Manchester High School for Girls Prep has an Eco Code, demonstrating their commitment to becoming more environmentally friendly. spelling out an acrostic pledge from the words WE CARE.
W – Water. Get it from a tap
E – Electricity. Switch off lights
C – Cut waste. Don’t drop litter
A – Appreciate our wonderful world
R – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
E – Eat healthy. Less packaging
The joint initiative brought children from the Infant and Junior departments together to create a code of practice for Prep pupils that encourages them to think about ways to ‘Save the World’. Prep teacher, Mrs Adam, who oversaw the project, believes this is just the beginning for the council, “The girls are so enthusiastic about getting involved and talking to their peers about ways to help the environment. They are full of ideas about how we can become more sustainable and their next job is to discuss the ideas behind the Eco Code with their year groups.”
The launch of the Eco Code comes on the back of ‘Less Waste Fortnight’ in Prep which encouraged pupils and staff to swap single use packaging for more sustainable alternatives. Head of Prep, Mrs Mortimer, was immensely proud of how successful they were in reducing waste. “In the first week, we still collected a fair amount of waste – especially plastic – but by the end of the second week, we had more than halved our rubbish.” She continued “If we can achieve results like that in two weeks, imagine what we could achieve over a whole year!”
The Eco Council echoed this sentiment, sharing a poster that stated, “Less packaging is not just for ‘Less Waste Fortnight’, it is for life!”
Head Mistress, Mrs Jeys, has been so impressed with the initiative that she hopes to roll the concept into the Senior School. She said, “The girls have been so focused and have a clear vision of the direction they would like to go in. I think it is really important that our older pupils support them in a project that is going to make such a difference to us as a school, the local community and ultimately the planet.”