Warwick Academy Students Hold Demonstration

Friday, February 28 marked the 20th consecutive Friday morning that a small group of Warwick Academy students demonstrated on Middle Road to raise awareness about climate change, with the students holding the demonstration before school started.

A spokesperson said, “Friday, February 28 marked the 20th consecutive Friday morning that a small group of concerned Warwick Academy students have stood vigil on Middle Road from 7.45am until 8.15am to raise awareness about climate change and what we can do about it as a community.

“The Warwick Academy Climate Action Network [W.A. CAN] was inspired by climate activist Greta Thunberg to adopt Fridays as the day for climate protest. However, rather than striking from school, they have chosen to demonstrate in their own free time before school starts, even on Fridays that fall during school holidays.

“In a privileged country like Bermuda, where access to education is not typically appreciated by students as much as it should be, this is arguably more meaningful than skipping school.”

“The message of their recent demonstration was ‘Reduce your Carbon Foot Print – Together we Can Make a Difference.’ Once a month, the WA CAN invites the whole school to come out and support them and so they were joined this morning by staff members, parents and many of their school mates as they challenged passing commuters to do more to reduce their carbon footprint.

“Signs featured key ways of either reducing your carbon outputm such as switching out lights, investing in solar, driving less, reducing consumption, buying local, or increasing your carbon drawdown by doing things like planting trees, composting and growing meadows and food crops instead of lawns.”

“Improving soil health and planting trees are two of the most effective things people can do to reduce atmospheric CO2. Here at Warwick Academy, members of the WA CAN and the Natural History Club have been actively involved with a school tree planting program known as ‘Project Treeage,’ as well as the development of edible gardens which supply the food and nutrition department with fresh produce.

“In February 2019, the Natural History Club pioneered a composting program called Mission Compostable, which accepts and composts the kitchen waste of around 40 participating families at the school. To date, they have created nearly 2,000 pounds of compost, which helps to fertilize our gardens and teaches students how food waste can be recycled back into more food rather than being sent to the incinerator where it releases carbon into the atmosphere.”

“Many Bermudians are of the opinion that Bermuda is too small to make a difference or that their individual actions have no impact on the global climate. It is easy to be complacent if one takes this attitude. However, with one of the highest standards of living in the world, Bermuda has one of the highest per capita carbon footprints in the world, so we have more accountability than most.

“Every individual, small town, or district in the world could make the same claim that they were too small to make a difference, but if they did that then nothing would ever change. History is full of examples of how the individual actions of a few can eventually lead to big changes by creating a ripple effect through industries and societies. If you want to see change, you need to be the change.”

“My personal favorite sign from today’s demonstration was ‘inspire others’. We hope we have inspired a few people to do more than they have been so far. To adopt more sustainable habits in their lives every day, week or month. Together we can make a difference.”

#ClimateChange #WarwickAcademy

Category: All, Environment, News