Is the school taking effective sustainable action for the future?
Dear reader,
As a writer, I love asking questions. Questioning problems that I see, hear, and learn about everyday, ever since I have been given the ability to do so. But, time to time again, I keep coming back to a huge question that I keep wondering about: Is the school really doing much in terms of effective sustainable action?
Throughout the many years I have spent at RCHK, I have seen uncountable numbers of environmental campaigns, targeting a broad span of issues, from the air conditioning used in classrooms to the waste we all throw out every school day. I do agree with the way people in our school take initiative, to raise awareness, and also to do something about these issues, but ultimately it takes everybody’s participation to make changes possible.
Our school mission is “to build a culture that promotes peace and democracy, values diversity and works towards a sustainable future for all.” It seems quite straight-forward, but looking deeper gives room for further questioning.
Taking a look through a different perspective at this situation, are we really going in the right direction in order to improve our future?
As a student, and observing my fellow classmates and friends, many don’t show any sign of awareness toward such things. They show no interest in such topics. They think that they don’t need to be involved, but they do. Endless emails about school complaints on environmental behavior pour into our inboxes constantly, encouraging us students to participate and do our part.
I always wonder, do people actually notice these? It’s been done enough times. People have gotten into a habit of taking a small glimpse at these emails, posters or signs, and just like that, gone. Out of sight, out of mind. I don’t see any big changes that are happening. It’s about time that campaigners find another way to spread their message. Perhaps a way to get the target group involved could help. Making a change that people can adapt to easily.
Take for instance, a rising campaign about the amount of food waste around school. Now, there are many ways to deal with such a problem, and loosely relating to science class and lab reports, finding your ‘independent variable’. So, if you were to be the person hosting the campaign, some ways you could deal with this is adjusting the portion of each meal, restricting the number of meals, or creating a specific limit for the amount of waste that can be thrown out.
Now, I understand that some of these ideas can seem completely off the wall. Either they are impractical, or are a little bizarre. But, before you go and rule them all out, put some deeper thought into them. Could making this adjustment make a difference? Would this difference be more effective than others? It seems extremely weird for me to be saying such, but, hey, it might just work.
There’s always got to be a change every now and again. The more something gets repeated, the less interest people take in it. Go with something that no one else could ever think of, and who knows? Maybe those ideas are best.
To conclude my statement, I truly, sincerely support all attempts to improve our school environment. Give a chance for change, and the school can change for the better.
Athena Yim
8.6 Q5
