On a sunny autumn afternoon, a group of students began to work together to scythe a meadow in the long grasses in front of the canteen at Shrewsbury School, eventually resulting in a conspicuous mountain of scythed plants catching the attention of all the pupils amidst their daily ritual of racing to lunch. 

 

The creation of the meadow was the fruit of the efforts of a dedicated group of pupils at Shrewsbury School, who form the school’s eco committee, which as eco committee leader Tony Gao explains, is “a platform for students supervised by biology teacher Mrs. Matthews to push their ideas regarding sustainability which has made significant changes to the community over the past few years.” The committee’s journey “began when two students, Jude and Mimi, started it as a small group, after being part of the school's Natural History Society, but soon began pushing for change soon followed as over 30 eager pupils soon joined”, co-leader Rosie Taylor explains. 

 

The meadow, which was initially proposed in 2018, is now a representation of their environmental work, with a wildflower meadow replacing a stretch of mowed grass, allowing for increased biodiversity. Aside from the meadow, they have also built a ‘pollinator’s garden’ to provide a home for insects to enjoy the nectar. 

 

As the eco committee grows in achievements, they are making their own small contribution to the fight against global warming one sustainable step at a time to the recognition of the entire school body. For its members though, all they really want, and need is more helping pairs of adult hands and not helpful words from adult tongues.