Last Updated on 18/07/2022
Two of GreenBuying’s team attended last week’s National Sustainable Schools Conference at the University of Bristol’s Student Union Building. We wanted to meet like minded people and to understand how schools should best be engaging with their pupils and other stakeholders to encourage a deeper knowledge of sustainable development. The Conference was organised by SEEd and was well received by the 170 delegates.
There were several keynote speakers, including Quinn Runkle from the NUS who shared the results of a recent survey of young people. 85% said that they believed sustainable development to be very important. And yet many felt that the education system was not providing them with sufficient knowledge on the subject.
At the end of the conference there was an opportunity for delegates to give a talk about their own beliefs. Matt Roper, Founder of GreenBuying.co.uk, talked about the importance of sustainable procurement. He said that many schools were buying products without considering the environmental impact of the purchase.
Given that there was an acknowledged case for promoting sustainability to pupils, Matt feels strongly that the schools themselves must reflect upon their own environmental impact and that their procurement strategy was arguably the most important determining factor. That’s why GreenBuying.co.uk was established – to help organisations such as schools procure eco-friendly products more easily.