After a pandemic induced hiatus, the Emanuel Eco Committee is back, and this term we are launching our latest initiative – Meat Free Monday. The name speaks for itself – every third Monday we will be only offering a vegetarian menu to pupils and staff.
The effects meat consumption is having on the environment have become increasingly apparent in recent years, for example did you know that if we could all switch public caterers to offering just one meat-free day a week we could save over 200,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. The numbers speak for themselves:
- It takes 30 bathtubs full of water to produce just one beef burger
- An area of rainforest is cut down every hour to create grazing room for cattle
- Almost 1/3 of all land on earth is used for livestock production
The first Meat Free Monday was on 20th September, and Miss Street, our catering manager, has been busy working on tasty meat free menus. We will, of course, be monitoring pupil feedback on the new menus.
Recent pre-pandemic initiatives from the Eco Committee have included eliminating single-use plastic from the tuck shop and catering, and Wasteless Week during which pupils are encouraged to minimise their plate waste at lunchtime. This term we will be running Clean Air Week where we will be asking pupils and staff to explore alternative ways of getting to school – ideally by foot, scooter or bicycle if possible.
If you have any questions about Meat Free Monday, or suggestions on other initiatives the school could look at, please contact Mr Hale (jjh@emanuel.org.uk).
Mr Hale (Eco Coordinator)