ECO CHARTER

At Bottisham Village College, there is a student Eco Club that meets weekly and is committed to helping the school become more environmentally responsible.

Previous Eco Club Projects:

• Organised non-uniform days and events to raise money for environmental charities, as well as funds for projects in school.
• Increased awareness of Eco Club to the School Community.
• Worked with the site team to find the best waste company to work with the school, resulting in 0% waste from BVC going to landfill.
• Planted trees around the school site to offset our carbon emissions.
• Turned an unused part of school into an area to grow plants.
• Planted wildflowers in unused flower beds.
• Created PSHE resources for the school on environmental issues and how students can help.
• Lead assemblies to inform the school community on developments.
• Shared information with the school community via newsletters.
• Attended a COP27 conference with other local schools to share ideas.
• Carried out surveys with students to see which environmental issues they want to better in school.
• Developed an Eco Charter for the school.

The BVC Eco Club created an Eco Charter, which is a set of targets for the school to work towards.

• We will aim to send 0% waste to landfill.
• We will have recycling bins throughout the school for the community to use.
• We will look for ways to use available, unused land to help to reduce our carbon footprint.
• We will look for innovative ways to create areas for wildlife, such as wildflower meadows, living roofs, mini forests or bug hotels.
• We will implement measures to ensure that we are not wasting resources, such as water or electricity.
• We will educate our community on the importance of Environmental awareness, which will include climate change, carbon footprint, single use plastic, wasting of resources, as well as information on how individuals can make a difference. This will be communicated through regular newsletters, form time quizzes, assemblies and Awareness Days.
• We will encourage our community to make a difference, through the use of the BVC reward system and incentives.
• We will aim to make our building as efficient as possible.
• We will encourage our community to use environmentally friendly transport.
• We will encourage community users to not idle cars when visiting the school or sports centre.
• We will provide a range of vegetarian and vegan options for school dinners, providing nutritional information to encourage take up on these options.
• We will work to reduce the use of single use plastic in the packaging of school dinners.
• We will work to use locally sourced ingredients for school dinners.
• We will work with the local community on environmental projects.
• We will consult with the school community on our plans.
• We will keep people updated on the projects in place and any planned changes.