Celebrating Earth Day

Jane Smith, Head of Primary School at Dulwich College Seoul, collects litter with her husband Paul for the school’s “plogging” event held in celebration of Earth Day 2022.

Primary School students, parents and teachers from Dulwich College Seoul (DCSL) gathered by the Han River on April 23, to pick up trash by plogging on Earth Day. Having originated in Sweden, plogging is now a global trend involving a combination of jogging and picking up litter as a way to do our part to protect the Earth.

About 60 students aged 4 to 11, along with their parents and some staff members, were able to fill 40 bags of trash by covering the Banpo area of the Han River, which is close to where the pre-K-12 international school is located.

“Sustainability is one of our core values and celebrating Earth Day is an important reminder to do our part to protect and preserve our natural resources”, said Gudmundur Jonsson, head of college at DCSL.

Collecting trash is an activity that DCSL students have consistently identified as a trait defining an Eco-Warrior. DSCL is a registered member of the global Eco-Schools program, which engages over 20 million students across 72 countries with the goal of contributing towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations. As a newly registered Eco-School, our school’s Senior School students have begun the seven-step program to becoming a ‘Green Flag’ certified school, which can be attained after two years of implementing the program and reaching a high level of performance.

Another Earth Day activity at DCSL this year saw some lessons conducted on April 22, without the use of artificial light and technology. Students from DCSL Senior School, which covers the equivalent of Korean middle and high school, also wore green to school on Earth Day while fundraising for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the world’s largest conservation group.

Senior school students heard from special guest speakers on the occasion of Earth Day. Jesper Krarup Holst, a partner and senior VP at Copenhagen Offshore Partners, spoke to students about offshore wind farms. Christina Cheong, who works for the Global Green Growth Institute, spoke about sustainable buildings. The school also had a week-long photo competition around the theme “Invest in our planet” and the winners will be announced next week.

Students at Dulwich College Seoul collect garbage for the school’s “plogging” event held in celebration of Earth Day 2022.
Students at Dulwich College Seoul collect garbage for the school’s “plogging” event held in celebration of Earth Day 2022.

DCSL has been fostering sustainability values to its “Eco-Warriors” in Primary School and Eco Committee in Senior School throughout the school year, encouraging students to identify ways in which they can actively address the climate crisis, as well as joining the global Teaspoons of Change movement encouraging all people to adopt small but significant actions that can support SDGs. The Senior School’s Eco Committee developed an Eco-Code that includes respecting the environment, walking or cycling where possible, recycling, eliminating plastic usage, and not wasting electricity.

Students embraced these values during the pandemic by proposing that DCSL use reusable cloths to disinfect desks between lessons, to save wasting paper towels. The Eco Committee from the Senior School students conducted a survey to assess the electricity and carbon footprint of the school’s students, so they could identify ways to reduce their footprint. Moreover, they have adopted vegetarian meals once per week through Meat Free Monday and No Carbon November, an annual effort to assess and reduce the amount of carbon emissions the school, staff, and students are responsible for.

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