We take our responsibility to the planet seriously

updated January 2, 2024

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Can summer schools be green? The short answer is “yes, there are things we can do”. At More Than English we believe in the power of organisations and governments, but most of all of individuals, to tackle the climate crisis. Here is what you could do and what we are doing to make our organisation more sustainable:

Partnership with Ecologi

More Than English has set up a partnership with Ecologi, which is an organisation whose mission is to empower individual people and businesses to tackle the climate crisis. 

In partnership with Ecologi More Than English is:

• Financially supporting reforestation & carbon offsetting projects
• Engaging students with climate change solutions
• Offsetting all carbon emissions from staff flights
• Offsetting carbon emissions produced by our staff

Read more about our partnership with Ecologi & gift extra impact from just £15 (GBP).

Practical measures

In addition, More Than English is taking practical measures at school in order to reduce our impact on the environment.

Examples:

• Reducing plastic consumption by using reusable bottles for drinking water
• Reducing ‘food miles’ by sourcing high quality fresh ingredients locally
• Reducing carbon emissions by giving all the students the opportunity to choose plant-based meals
• Reducing carbon emissions by purchasing only renewable energy to power our head office
• Recycling paper and packaging and purchasing only recycled paper.
• Reducing waste by purchasing, as far as possible, high-quality equipment that can be repaired

Want to make a difference? We highly recommend reading this BBC Article about the team behind Ecologi

The big picture

In additional to practical measures connected to the opeartion of the school, we are also working to tackle the climate crisis at a deeper level.

Building a green culture @ More Than English:

By communicating our green values to staff, and empowering them to be part of policy making, we attract staff who share the same commitment to sustainability and who want to work with us to put green considerations at the heart of how we operate the organisation.

Education:

Tackling the biodiversity and climate crises starts with education. Here is how we are developing solutions through education.

• By giving students, as part of their courses, the opportunity to use their Critical and Creative Thinking skills to explore the issues, evaluate solutions and allocate More Than  English funds (£) to their chosen Climate Crisis solutions, we empower students to become part of the solution.  Students also supercharge the impact of their work by sharing their knowledge with other students.
• By giving students opportunities to connect with nature on our spectacular 20-hectare campus in the English countryside, we help students experience the health benefits of being in nature and promote positive attitudes towards the environment.
• By communicating More Than English’s progress towards sustainability through our social media channels and celebrating events such as The Earthshot Prize, Zero Emissions Day, Earth Day and International Day of Climate Action we continue raising awareness about climate change so that young people can themselves become agents of change.

Change starts with beliefs, understanding and attitudes: in other words, with education.

David Meddows – Co-founder of More Than English

Transport:

In addition to offsetting carbon emissions from staff flights through our partnership with Ecologi, we are reducing emissions associated with travel by:

By careful selection and planning of our attendance at international education events, so that, for example, we travel to Germany, once every two years and not twice in one year.

By attending virtual and hybrid education events in order to reduce the number of international face to face events.

Staff pensions:

“The goal of net zero is the greatest commercial opportunity of our time.”

Mark Carney (former Governor of the Bank of England and UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance).

That is to say, in the near future, companies that create solutions to climate change will receive more investment and will generate more profit than those that do not. More Than English plans to help accelerate this change in global finance by reviewing staff pensions to ensure that investments are only with funds that do not invest in fossil fuels.

Summary:

We are full of hope and believe that together we can and will restore biodiversity and reverse climate change. Responsibility for solving the problem lies not only with governments and businesses, but with individuals.

What we know is that small choices and actions made by individuals as consumers, voters, employees and citizens add up to big changes. Now every family can offset their carbon emissions with Ecologi.

Read more about our partnership with Ecologi

When it comes to climate change, open, honest conversations are essential. We have not arrived at net zero,. However, can we make a big difference now? Absolutely: yes, we can. We must all take action and More Than English is taking action now.

‘We don’t have much time’

Elliott Coad – Co-founder of Ecologi

What can you do?

Parents and agents: we ask you to please click on this link and start a partnership with Ecologi to offset the carbon emissions of your family, business or organisation and together we will tackle climate change.

Links:

• Highly recommended: BBC Article about the team behind Ecologi
• More Than English’s Ecologi profile and gift more impact from just £15 (GBP)
• Start a subscription to Ecologi (family, individual or business)