Our Green Day puts the planet first!

New City College held its very first Green Day to celebrate the launch of a new Green Strategy that will see the college prioritise an environmentally-friendly agenda.

The day was packed with informative activities and students and staff were encouraged to sign up for live talks, take part in sustainability surveys and carbon footprint quizzes, watch inspirational videos, attend seminars, join a litter-picking team, choose healthy vegetarian and vegan options for lunch, play ‘green’ games and learn how to grow their own herbs and vegetables.

Guest speakers included Steve Frampton, the FE/HE Climate Commissioner, whose talk was titled: ‘A Climate of Change and Seizing the RESET Opportunity. A practical guide to what you can do’. Another speaker was Peter Synam, from Greenpeace, who spoke about ‘Food and fashion – major causes and solutions to climate change’.

NCC’s Senior Management Team made pledges, such as reducing printing, installing only energy efficient heating and lighting systems in buildings and developing courses to promote environmentally sustainable behaviours in the fields of construction and engineering.

Students welcomed the day, were proud to be involved and spoke enthusiastically about the College’s shift to prioritise the green agenda.

One said: “I loved the good vibes and music and the feeling of being part of a community was amazing. We are trying to do something for the environment altogether and that gives us hope.”

Another commented: “It was a beautiful initiative and I loved the green spirit in the college. I feel happy that we are doing something to help our planet.”

Students’ Union President, Kadija Humed, and her team at our Tower Hamlets campus led a litter-pick where they collected a huge bag of cigarette butts as well as picking up coffee cups, drinks bottles, sweet wrappers and food containers.

Their efforts have really made a huge difference to the college, the community and the local wildlife.

NCC CEO and Group Principal Gerry McDonald said: “Our students told us that we were not doing enough to prioritise the green agenda and so it has become very important for us to raise our knowledge and understanding.

“I want this to become embedded in our curriculum so that we make a real difference. We want to be challenged as a group to do more so that we really lead the sector on this incredibly important agenda.”

Project coordinator Ioanna Kokkinopliti said: “Everyone seemed to really enjoy our first NCC Green Day and many took the chance to participate in the activities at our different campuses. This marks the start of our new green way of thinking.”