Eco Week in Concord: Our Earth

My fondest memory as a child was always going out into the luscious greenery of my birthplace, Romania, enjoying the sprawling, vast lands of the countryside along with towering, rocky mountains lining the horizon. So, it is with immense pleasure to see Concord host its very own way of appreciating the beauty of our environment – Eco Week.

Eco Week was no doubt a highly integrating event which incorporated many concepts and initiatives from the wide pool of societies at Concord. Fellow Concordians could enjoy hands-on experiences such as the fashion upcycling workshop help by the fashion society, or the informative presentations and workshops conducted by the engineering and extra chemistry society. Personally, I found the display from politics society to be the most eye opening and enjoyable; covering topics like the relationship between politics and the environment, roles and effectiveness of IGOs, governments, NGOs and environmental pressure groups in mitigating climate change, as well the impact of environmentalism in politics.

Something that is often not emphasised at such events, and which I was thrilled to notice here, was the notion of sustainability. We all know the dangers of modern-day consumerism, and this issue is overlooked in countless households due to a lack of awareness. Concord was nothing short of thorough in this area, with organisations such as the eco store reselling possessions people no longer value, reminding us of the many ways to reduce wasteful consumption. I was impressed by the selection of products which the eco club brought the value back into. It was heartening to see many students turning up, and showing their interest to these new, charitable methods in helping the environment.

Furthermore, at the forefront of attention was the beef-free week, admonishing us of the problems of methane gas which have long plagued our international efforts in quelling climate change. With the kind cooperation of the kitchen staff, we didn’t eat any beef for an entire week, making us realise just how much we impact the environment as a community.

Our students have enjoyed the week as it has raised the growing awareness of the environmental problems; Caitlin, a fellow student council member has very kindly offered us her impression of our eco week: “Eco Week has made me more aware of environmental issues such as the harm that beef does to the environment in comparison to other products. I also think that the eco shop and the upcycling workshop have made me more aware of other alternatives to fast fashion, and have encouraged me to upcycle my own clothes.”

So, it’s clear. The actions and initiatives that have taken place during the Eco Week have led to a fruitful experience for all Concord students, which has given them an opportunity to reflect upon the environmental issues we live in today and how we can all play a role in solving them.

Ecaterina – 6.1

International Food Fayre 2018

A week last Sunday, Concord College held its ‘International Food Fayre’. Students from different cultural societies cooked food from their home countries, presenting the food for other students and staff to taste. As Concord is an international school, there were many different cuisines for everyone to choose from and try such as Kazakh, Eastern European, Thai and Malaysian food and many more delicacies.

As the Head of the Chinese Society, I delegated my members to purchase ingredients and cook on the event day itself… Despite some not knowing how to cook, there were many students that had the ability to and were willing to participate, which made getting ready for the event much easier. The hardest thing was to arrange for a suitable time and place to cook, as many of the Chinese dishes we chose to cook often do not last very long. In addition, our time slot to cook in the student kitchen was two hours before the actual event. Thus, I assigned the participants to various boarding houses to use their kitchens too, to ensure the foods were ready by the time of the fayre.

Our pearl milk teas (a Chinese delicacy) were extremely popular amongst the students. Besides that, I personally enjoyed the toppoki from the Korean society very much. Because I was on duty at the Chinese Society’s stall, I did not manage to try many of the other societies’ food unfortunately. However, many said they all tasted delicious. I had a lot of fun getting ready for the food fayre with other members of the Chinese Society and from this, we have strengthened friendships with each other.

Britina – 6.2