Moreton Hall’s Eco Team have been awarded with a Jane Goodall Roots & Shoots Gold Award having been recognised for recent environmental projects. The award recognises the Eco Teams contribution to ‘achieving a better world for People, Animals and the Environment.’
Moreton Hall’s Eco Team is made up of pupils who feel passionate about the planet and want to help find ways to look after it. As an Eco-School, Moreton has held a Green Flag Award since 2010 which is renewed every two years.
Over last term, the Eco team undertook projects in order to be more environmentally efficient. For example, they ran a ‘Switch-Off Fortnight’ programme in order to make Moreton more energy efficient. This involved monitoring the power usage of the school before and after the programme, encouraging teachers, staff and pupils to turn off the light in their dorms and classrooms. Another project the Eco Team undertook was picking fresh apples from the school’s walled garden and then turning them into fresh apple juice.
Roots & Shoots was founded by Dr Jane Goodall, DBE in 1991, to bring together young people from preschool to university age to work on environmental, conservation, and humanitarian issues. Roots & Shoots is a worldwide movement across more than 60 countries empowering young people to deliver meaningful positive impact in their local communities. In 2021, the Roots & Shoots programme had more than 10,000 groups around the world involving more than one million young people.
Hannah Peel, Head of Biology, Ecology and the Eco Team, said: “We are delighted that our work from last term has been recognised and we are very excited to have received this award. The Eco Team are proud to be part of the Roots & Shoots movement.”
In previous years, the Eco Team have also introduced environmentally friendly options to be sold in Moreton’s on-site shop, Moreton Enterprises. The Eco Team picked Tony’s Chocolonely chocolate due to its plastic free packaging and its promise to be palm oil free. Tony’s Chocolonely also aims to make chocolate production 100% slave free and ensure that profits are shared equally amongst the cocoa industry.
Moreton Hall are incredibly proud of the work that the Eco Team are doing in bringing awareness to issues surrounding sustainability and biodiversity. Students have been invited to present their project work to Dr Jane Goodall at their annual awards ceremony.
