09:00, 13 September 2024
Words by Abi Scaife, Staff Writer, London
Thousands of schools are coming together to be more sustainable - and to call on the government to take action.
Let's Go Zero is an amazing campaign helping schools, and their young people, to be more climate friendly. By signing up to Let’s Go Zero, schools are pledging to work together to become zero carbon and, therefore, more climate-friendly.
Smiley News caught up with the Head of Let's Go Zero, Alex Green, to hear more about what they are doing to encourage positive change in the next generation.
“Children need to learn about climate change because it isn't an issue that will go away. Climate change is already impacting their day-to-day lives and future,” explains Alex.
It doesn’t take much to see that climate change is having a visceral effect on our lives - you just need to look outside at the changing weather. However, that doesn’t mean that the damage is done and that’s all she wrote - by working together, we can make a difference, and that’s what Let’s Go Zero wants to make happen.
“The Let's Go Zero campaign is there to demonstrate the demand for climate action in schools across the UK,” says Alex. “By demonstrating this, we can help our key policymakers to create policies that help all schools to take more climate action.”
The Let’s Go Zero campaign is run by Ashden, a charity dedicated to boosting climate innovation in the UK and Global South. They give awards and grants, spotlight innovators, and are working hard to make green energy the norm across our world.
By signing your school up to Let’s Go Zero, you are pledging that on its site and through all its activities and procurement, your school is aiming not to contribute to climate change through carbon emissions by 2030. This might feel like a big change, but it’s an important step - and one that will demonstrate to students just how important climate action is.
Alex says: “We can already see change taking place and we know that our school leaders are empowered by seeing their peers taking action as well. This is why the storytelling and the communications work that we do at Let's Go Zero helps to spread that message and share the movement for change across the education sector.”
In a world that is increasingly focused on what happens inside, it is more important than ever that we teach children to value the natural world from a young age. By fostering that love of nature right from the start, the next generation will be all the more inclined to support the world around them.
“Young children should be learning about our environment and the natural world first, so they learn to love and respect it and see the value in our natural world and diverse ecosystems,” explains Alex. “This can lead to learning about our lifestyles can be good or bad for the environment.”
“When climate change is taught in an engaging way children can see how their actions impact others – like being driven to school or buying the latest fashion.”
Now, we all know that you can’t just go zero carbon overnight - especially for a school, that’s just not feasible. That’s why the Let’s Go Zero campaign isn’t about instant transformation, but about tangible change - taking steps to educate, transform, and improve with the goal of becoming zero carbon in the next six years.
Alex says: “We hope that the legacy of the Let's Go Zero campaign is to give more school leaders opportunities to be beacons for their communities and show how we can change behaviours and retrofit our estates to support a transition to a zero carbon society.”
Let’s Go Zero is available within the UK - any school or educational setting in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland can sign up.
“Children of all ages are interested in learning about the climate and nature, and they are all capable of playing a role in our society's journey to net zero,” adds Alex. “But teaching children about climate change must be done in the right way.”
If you’re still wondering whether or not to pledge your school alongside the thousands of others who have already signed up, we’ll leave you with these poignant words from Alex:
“We need to make sure that we as adults, as decision-makers and leaders, are showing our children that we are taking action as quickly and impactfully as we can to ensure that the impact of climate change is halted. We need to lead by example.”
To sign your school up for the Let’s Go Zero campaign, you can follow this link.
At Smiley Movement, we like to elevate the work of charities across the world. Here are three charities whose causes align with the themes in this article.
The Climate Coalition. This is the UK's largest group of people dedicated to action against climate change. Find out more and support them here.
Climate Reframe. Climate Reframe is committed to supporting the climate and environment movement in its transformation towards greater justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI). Find out more.
Every Can Counts. This is a not-for-profit recycling programme, encouraging people to recycle more often, to protect our planet. Support them here.
This article aligns with the UN SDGs Affordable and Clean Energy and Climate Action.
