Shropshire college eco store raises £350 for wildlife organisation
An eco store at a Shropshire college has raised around £350 which will be donated to the World-Wide Fund for Nature to help with the long-term protection of the world’s eco system and its wildlife.
The eco store was set up online at Concord College last term to enable students and staff to take part in auctions to purchase items for daily life and boarding.
The college’s eco club said the shop was set up to dispense a small number of items that the leavers of 2020 left behind and were unable to reclaim in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The follow-up has been the setting up of a physical store in Concord’s West End to give students and staff the opportunity to attend in their year group ‘bubbles’ with members of the eco club volunteering for shopping assistance and item quarantining.
Head of the college eco committee, Rachel Tam, 18, from Hong Kong, said: “The eco store revival was successful beyond our expectations. We raised more than £200 in just the 6.1 and 6.2 sessions.
“It’s definitely something we hope to continue to do in the future to raise funds to support environmental conservation initiatives."
Head of Concord’s eco committee mathematics teacher Emma Charles said the success of the eco store was making around £350, with many students going away with ‘fabulous’ items for ‘bargain prices'.
The setting up of the eco store was part of the Acton Burnell-college’s new student-led initiative – an eco week with activities, seminars and events, to raise awareness and become more eco-friendly.
The initiative looked at addressing four key waste issues in the college: energy, paper, food and plastic, in addition to how students and staff could individually live ‘greener’ lives.
In addition to an upcycling workshop, eco week included ‘Earth Day’ – a global movement designed to demonstrate support for environmental protection.
Staff presented their own top eco tips to students who themselves launched a ‘no beef’ policy to raise awareness in the student body about the environmental impacts of individual food choices.
Other activities featuring in eco week consisted of limitations on foods based on carbon emissions, upcycling workshops, informative videos, quizzes and games and a dedicated ‘Earth Hour’ – turning lights off around the college and for remote learners around the world.
