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Promoting sustainability – how chemistry helps

Two women from Callywith College Sustainability Group with their promotional stand

Picture: © Callywith College

Chemistry Week 2021

As the world came together for our planet and people at the Climate Change Conference, COP26, the Callywith College Sustainability Group have been raising awareness of the variety of ways that we as a community could be more sustainable.

By Kate Roberts

Students put their ideas forward on how the Callywith College could be more sustainable and made pledges on small changes that they could make in order to improve their carbon footprint. They even offered their fellow students the option of tasting flavoured eating crickets – an alternative and more sustainable source of protein.

5 students with their sustainability stand

Picture: © Callywith College

Callywith College is an FE free school, Ofsted outstanding, a HEFCE designated 'POLAR Cold Spot' and an area of high deprivation according to IoD 2019.

We were fortunate in securing funding to be able to purchase resources in order to raise awareness of sustainability issues within our local and college environment, empowering our students to find out what they can do as individuals to be more sustainable in their habits and to promote and encourage sustainability within the college environment.

We were also interested in developing green spaces within our relatively new campus for the planting of native trees including fruit trees and other species important to pollinators.

The outreach fund allowed specialist equipment to be purchased as well as samples of local vegetable boxes and a selection of flavoured crickets.  

In the future, the Callywith College would like to continue to test the soil on campus to decide where to plant several fruit trees and wildflowers for pollinators. Callywith College will also be working closely with SUEZ UK – our waste collection service, to recycle and be more sustainable with our waste.

Group of students with images of the United Nations sustainability goals

Picture: © Callywith College