News Date: Tuesday 31st March 2009
Eco-Summit goes international
After being greeted to Boundstone by music performed by students on instruments made from recycled materials the day started with words of encouragement from Adur District Chairman Councillor Brian Coomber and Worthing’s Mayor Christine Brown and was followed by a very amusing environmental play written and performed by Boundstone students featuring ‘Green Dave’ and ‘Evil bin bag Belinda’ amongst others. The students were then split into a variety of workshops with experts from the Environment Agency, Sussex Wildlife Trust, IFAW, Sussex Academy of Music and the Alchemist Store. Representatives from Marks & Spencer and the Co-Op manned stalls displaying goods made from environmentally friendly materials and gave out Fairtrade chocolate.
The highlight of the day was a live internet link up with a group of students in Ghana from schools who had benefited from second hand computers sent from Worthing and Adur through local charity CARE which is run by Worthing resident Jib Hagan who is actually out in Accra at the moment. The next event is planned for June 6th which is to be ‘Plastic bag free day’ in Adur and Worthing where Eco-Summit students are designing a sustainable shopping bag which is to be produced by the Environment Agency. The bags will be swapped for shopper’s plastic bags at stalls in Worthing, lancing and Shoreham where it also coincides with the opening day of the Adur Arts festival and activities are planned at Ropetackle. Tim commented:
‘The Eco-Summit has become a huge success and is really engaging young people into thinking and acting imaginatively into how they can make their schools and everyday lives more environmentally friendly. We have now renamed ourselves as The EYE Project standing for Eco, Young & Engaged and a pupil from Seaside School Amy-Jane Bassett won the competition to design our new logo launched at the Eco-Summit. Students at St Andrew’s School have also designed our new website and everyone interested will be able to follow the progress of this important project online. This is improving a very successful and important way of engaging young people with their local communities and showing how they can do their bit for the wider environment.’
