College Performance Coach, Dominic Brumwell recently delivered a presentation to students covering the environment, conservation and sustainability. During this session students discovered that the Plastic Island in the Pacific Ocean is now estimated to be around the size of Europe - much to the students’ surprise!
Students said that unless things were “in their faces”, it was difficult to comprehend the magnitude of a problem and that they were not inclined to make any lifestyle changes. Dominic suggested a strategy that could change their perspective which involves putting a skip at the entrance of the Aylesbury campus for student to fill with their daily consumption of plastic bottles and cups. As it fills, students will see just how much plastic they consume. This quantity can be turned into a 12 month estimate and the figure multiplied by the total number colleges in the whole of the UK, to really put the amount of waste into perspective.
Students from different curriculum areas are engaging in this experiment. Construction students are creating a wooden cover for the top of the skip and the Art and Design students will be painting the sides and the cover to help highlight the experiment.
The priority of this project is to raise student awareness regarding plastic waste whilst engaging them in a practical experiment to broaden their perspective and influence behaviour towards recycling.
The skip ready to be moved into position
