Sustainability at Taunton School

Our Prep School has an active ‘Eco Club’ with the slogan: “be part of the solution, not the pollution”.

As part of their green agenda, they’ve embarked on initiatives such as orchard planning, beekeeping and establishing an Eco Leaders group.

After learning all about how to keep bees and their vital role in the environment, they recently harvested and spun their first honey. This is now being sold with the proceeds going towards more bee suits and upkeep of their hives. Our Eco Leaders also planted an orchard of twelve juicing apple trees on the school grounds so they can bottle their own apple juice in the future and sell it for charity.

Promoting sustainability and raising awareness is something the pupils are hugely passionate about and they have even featured on BBC Somerset radio, talking about waste and apples to encourage action from others.

Henry Collins, a Year 8 Eco Leader, said: ‘’I think it is great that we are the first school to go zero to landfill. It is sad what happens to animals when they get caught up in plastic and we should all think about the consequences of throwing things away.’’

To minimise harmful effects caused by chemical products, we have introduced a revolutionary environmentally-friendly cleaning product, supplied by Purozo (a company run by a former student). The non-chemical product turns normal tap water into a powerful cleaner and sanitizer, killing up to 99.999% of harmful bacteria.

The system has been installed around the school and is now in use as part of the cleaning regime across the campus, including boarding houses, classrooms and communal areas.

The technology allows the oxygen in ordinary tap water to be safely and temporarily converted into a powerful cleaner. Incredibly, the product safely converts back to ordinary water after approximately six days.

It is very safe and effective with no toxins, carcinogens, or chemical residue – something which is of paramount importance at a school. This means no chemicals, but clean classrooms.

As a school, we have actively been reducing the use of plastic cleaning bottles, with our new system of cleaning products relying upon reusable bottles. The financial saving from reducing our use of plastic will then be reinvested into other environmental initiatives.

The school shop is also leading on ‘green’ initiatives. Sandwiches and takeaway hot drinks are now sold in compostable packaging, and water is sold in infinitely recyclable alumni cans – a popular choice with our students and staff.

We have set up a ‘Green Team’ made up of our student Eco Leaders, Facilities Manager, Estates Manager, Prep School teachers and the Marketing team to drive forward our green agenda.

Some of the initiatives we are involved in are:

– Locally sourcing all produce used by the school’s catering team
– Creating an environmental policy
– Using a fabric-first approach to any building work (choosing materials over technology)
– Using LEDs in our floodlights
– Using motion sensors activated lights in all of our classrooms
– Using electric school maintenance buggies
– Appointing ‘energy champions’ for each year/house
– Continuing to promote messages of sustainability and environmental protection in our communications

The aim of all of this is to set an example for the wider community to follow, encourage them to join in, and together make a difference.