Around 1500 schools from across the country have signed up to
take part in the third annual Green Britain Day, founded by EDF
Energy, on Wednesday May 18. The schools taking part are using the
day as an opportunity to celebrate and showcase 'green'
projects.
Green Britain Day each year celebrates what Team Green Britain
is doing to inspire others to take action against climate change.
Team Green Britain was founded by EDF Energy in 2009, bringing
together schools, communities, businesses and people to work
together to save energy and money. There are now over a million
people who are part of Team Green Britain.
EDF Energy, Britain's largest producer of low-carbon
electricity, believes that climate change can only be tackled
effectively by working together, so schools have also been
encouraged to invite parents and the local community to see how
they have been taking positive action to become more sustainable
with the aim of inspiring them to be greener too.
Over 12,350 schools from EDF Energy's Programme for Greener
Schools, the Pod, are being encouraged to take part in Green
Britain Day activities. Celebration packs have gone out to the
first 1,500 schools that registered for Green Britain Day, with
bunting, posters, badges, and stickers to help decorate schools and
get everyone involved. Since it was launched in 2008 the Pod has
already engaged 2.5 million young people in sustainability.
Schools have been explaining their plans on 'the wall' at the
Pod website http://www.jointhepod.org/, including
litter-picking, planting trees, open days, creating and improving
green spaces, nature areas and vegetable gardens, having picnics
with local produce, building a recycled plastic bottle greenhouse
and holding lessons outdoors.
As the first sustainability partner of London 2012, EDF Energy
is using the inspirational qualities of the Olympic and Paralympic
Games to bring environmental issues to life for young people,
helping to create a lasting sustainability legacy for the Games.
The Pod is a key component of the London 2012 'Get Set' education
network, providing teachers with the information and resources they
need to teach green issues, and a simple framework for them to help
students run green activities and share their work with
others.
Robyn Broughton, EDF Energy schools' programme manager, said:
"It is fantastic that schools are joining others across the country
to showcase their efforts to become more sustainable. Through The
Pod thousands of schools are doing their bit for the environment
and helping to inspire friends, family and the local community to
make changes too.
"We can only tackle climate change effectively by working
together as a team. As the UK's largest producer of low carbon
electricity and London 2012's first sustainability partner, EDF
Energy has created Team Green Britain to inspire people to take
action against climate change ahead of 2012 so that we can showcase
our green achievements when attention turns to the UK for the
Olympic and Paralympic Games."
People can join the one million members of Team Green Britain
and can get information and advice to help them save energy and
money by visiting www.teamgreenbritain.org.
To find out more about the Pod, EDF Energy's programme for greener
schools, visit http://www.jointhepod.org/.
Ends
For more information and to set up photo opportunities
at schools, please contact Mike Stuart in the EDF Energy press
office on 07875112661.
Notes to editors
Team Green Britain
Team Green Britain was kicked off by EDF Energy, the UK's
largest producer of low carbon electricity, in partnership with the
Eden Project, Eco-Schools and London 2012. It is a growing group of
people all across Britain doing what they can to reduce their
carbon footprint by changing their lives in ways which are better
for them and the environment.
Green Britain Day, which began in 2009, is a day each year where
schools, communities, businesses and other motivated people
showcase and celebrate what the Team are doing as an inspiration to
the rest of the country to join us.
Through Our Sustainability Commitments, EDF Energy has launched
one of the biggest environmental and social programmes of any
British energy company.
In these commitments, we have pledged to reduce the carbon
intensity of our electricity generation to just 250g/kWh by 2020 -
a commitment which goes further than any of our competitors. We
have also committed to lower the proportion of carbon arising from
our customers' energy consumption by 15% by 2020.
For information about Team Green Britain go to www.teamgreenbritain.org
and on the Pod http://www.jointhepod.org/
EDF Energy
EDF Energy is one of the UK's largest energy companies and the
largest producer of low-carbon electricity, producing around
one-fifth of the nation's electricity from its nuclear, coal and
gas power stations, as well as combined heat and power plants and
wind farms. The company supplies gas and electricity to more than
5.5 million business and residential customers and is the biggest
supplier of electricity by volume in the UK.
EDF Energy's safe and secure operation of its eight existing
nuclear power stations at sites across the country makes it the
UK's largest generator of low carbon electricity. EDF Energy is
also leading the UK's nuclear renaissance and has published plans
to build four new nuclear plants, subject to the right investment
framework. These new plants could generate enough low carbon
electricity for about 40% of Britain's homes. They would make an
important contribution to the UK's future needs for clean, secure
and affordable energy. The project is already creating business and
job opportunities for British companies and workers.
EDF is the official energy utilities partner and sustainability
partner of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The
company is also helping its customers and others use energy more
sustainably through products and initiatives such as Team Green
Britain, smart meters and electric vehicle research.
EDF Energy is part of EDF Group, one of Europe's largest power
companies. The company employs around 15,000 people at locations
across the UK.
What is the Pod?
Launched in September 2008, the Pod sits at the heart of EDF
Energy's programme for greener schools. It was developed to
help EDF Energy meet its Social commitment of engaging with 2.5
million children by 2012 in learning about the sustainable use of
energy - a target which was achieved early 2011. The Pod now
has over 12,000 registered schools and aims to make real and
measurable difference to the energy usage and carbon output of
schools across the UK and to provide practical support, activities
and materials for teachers.
http://www.jointhepod.org/ is an interactive
website for teachers providing free lesson plans, activities,
assemblies, games and information all with cross curricular links.
The content is currently aimed at key stages 1, 2 and 3. The ethos
of the Pod is 'Share your ideas and inspire each other', which is
why the site also encourages pupils and teachers to blog about
their activities and to post photos and videos to showcase their
green projects - all of this great material can be seen on the Pod
Gallery at http://www.jointhepod.org/gallery/default. In
addition, the Pod runs three campaigns each year, all designed to
help the whole school, parents and the local community to engage in
living a more sustainable life.
Teaching materials have been written with the help of the Eden
Project and all activities have been endorsed by Eco-Schools
England, Eco-Schools is the largest environmental schools programme
in the world. Completing any activity on the Pod will help with a
school's application for a bronze, silver and green flag
Eco-Schools award.
