School electricity waste is a problem. Most schools waste more electricity, water and paper then many households and small offices, so they should be doing something about it, and I know many are working hard to be more sustainable in how they operate.

But where I don’t think secondary schools are doing enough at all is in teaching us about sustainability and environmental issues.

If I wasn’t doing textiles GCSE I’d have no idea about sustainability in textiles, and it’s such an important subject.  After all children and teenagers are the generation that is stuck with the problems these industries have caused on the environment.

For my GCSE I’m designing  a 1960’s inspired product, a denim skirt and top,  and it will help me achieve better grades if I cover sustainable issues and the environmental impact of the textile production as part of my work.   I imagine people studying geography might cover sustainability in school but otherwise it’s hardly covered at all, apart from through my course.  I vaguely remember putting on a play about recycling in my primary school but that was about the whole of it in my education.

I’m surprised by how little me and my friends knew about the issue and worse still how I wouldn’t know much at all if I hadn’t taken textiles. I know teachers have to deal with many different subjects including new curriculum changes, but I  think teaching everyone in secondary schools what sustainability really means would be a very good change to make.

This blog post is written by Daisy who is with us this week for school work experience.  Thank you Daisy for joining us and spreading the word about green issues!