Our Year 12 English A level students went cross-curricular today as they were invited research, investigate, and tune-in to Earth Day; they could then choose to create either a review, speech, or poem. Chelsea's poem and Taya's speech stood out as examples of what our UTC students are capable of.
Chelsea's poem:
Earth day 2020
How do you see the Earth?
Close your eyes and think about it -
what do you see?
Are there bright open spaces?
Happy faces and people enjoying the sunshine?
Or are there skyscrapers?
Crowded streets bustling with life?
Stop for a second.
Appreciate all the Earth has given us:
resources, a place to live,
and what have we done in return?
We burn down the rainforests;
destroy animal habitats;
fill the sky with smog -
ignoring the warning signs.
Now, how do you see the Earth?
Close your eyes and think about it.
Maybe it’s time to give something back.
Lockdown.
Hell for humans,
but what about the wildlife -
see how it thrives in our absence?
Places uninhabitable to humans,
Chernobyl,
after a while, wildlife takes over.
But how long until we make irreversible
damage?
Every day brings us closer
to a world without animals,
full of pollution and darkness.
Only we can change that.
Do you see how the Earth could be?
Open your eyes -
this is real.
Taya's speech:
Today marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. And it’s a special one - 50 years ago this day was created as a unified response to an environment in crisis, to raise awareness about the effects we are having on our planet. But today, we have made a change - possibly the biggest change we’ve had in making the world a better place, improving our environment. And we can continue to better that change during and past this important day. Who would’ve thought it could be done by sitting at home!
We all know about the coronavirus. We have all heard enough about it; all tired of hearing about it. We are currently living during a historical event, experiencing it; something people will be taught about in hundreds of years time - but we don’t care about that, we just want it over. And rightfully so. Although this virus has tragically taken many lives; caused minimal to disastrous effects on people’s lives, there are surprisingly a few positives to a global pandemic.
Thousands upon thousands of businesses have been shut down; we have been put on lockdown, and the majority of us are working from home. This means that not a lot of us are outside anymore - which the Earth is thanking us for! Fewer people outside means less litter. Fewer people outside means less travel, resulting in fewer vehicles creating pollution. A lot of industrial businesses have shut down, meaning less industrial pollution. This means we have also seen a fall in carbon dioxide pollution - scientists report this could be the biggest fall we have had in over 70 years! By staying at home, we are reducing all of these factors, something that should’ve been achieved long ago.
Now, although we have been placed on lockdown, there are still people going out for their enjoyment. To meet with friends, visit a family member or two, going for a drive just because the roads are empty. Not only are you placing those you see at risk, but you are also going to affect others around you - you could have the virus with no symptoms, or maybe someone you see has it, and that can then be spread to people that go near you, even on a simple walk to the shop.
You could unknowingly cause death through recklessness.
And as a knock-on effect, extend the need for a lockdown. The more people that continue to ignore current rules, the smaller the positive impact we will have on our environment, and also continue to affect our economy, more importantly, the smaller businesses that are suffering.
So, on this Earth Day, 2020, think about what you can do to help your community and your environment. You can plant a tree in your garden, helping to decrease that carbon dioxide pollution. You can raise awareness through social media - we haven’t got much else to do at the moment, and the number of people using social media on the daily is most likely at an all-time high! Or when you need to go shopping, try and leave the car and walk instead (keeping distance from others, of course). Not only does that reduce your carbon footprint, but it also gets you that well needed fresh air. And let's not forget, there couldn’t be a better time to go paperless when everyone is working from home on their computers.
Every little contribution helps to improve our environment - and better yet, our quality of life.