A school with environmental trimmings?

So when did trimmings in school architecture go the way of the dinosaurs? Was it with the end of the Victorian and Edwardian obssession with education.

The building of a new school was a major things - supported by benfactors, enthused by the population - it was part of an aspiration that lifted people up and out.

Now there feels like no such pride - schools are protected by a moral good, a sense that whilst we want standards to rise schools are not to blame and teachers have made a vocational choice.

Yet I am convinced that much is in fact dictated by the quality of the environment and so the built environment. There are discussions progressing in Camden and Brent about building new schools - both under the aegis of this Labour Government have to explore academies - so quality of build will be important.

So when it comes to new build - will we see the extra trimmings - such as in this door way here - or the ones below (from the school on Salusbury Road, Queen's park IIRC) - or will we, as I hope, see long lasting serious environmental measures? Measures such as rainwater collections, inbuilt recycling capacity, waste reduction measures, on site combined heat and power plants... surely we will...

Please don't give me another plastic bag!

Ok so it's treated as being slightly odd - but that's precisely the issue.

Just nipped down to my local Sainsbury's for some consumables for my baking-fest that I'm about to embark on for the Hampstead Summer Fayre.

In a fit of greeness I did what I have wanted to do for a while and I asked to see the Manager to ask why, under the refitted store, the provision of plastic bags were so prominent, why the staff always asked me if I want bag (I DON'T!) and why the bag recycling point has gone.

I'm sure Darren (his name IIRC) didn't mean it but I felt like some kind of greeneyed monster asking a really silly thing - anyway we persisted with the conversation and I've asked him to:

• Consider changing the staff culture so the customer service line is - you don't need a bag do you, have you brought your own bags or can you carry this one item
• Make contact with the Kilburn Partnership and have the same dialogue with them
• Push for the restoration of the bag recycling point and
• Look again at what can be done here locally in Kilburn in hist store at his initiative.

I flagged up the existance of the I love Kilburn bags (I was using mine :-)) and he was interested in stocking them. So it's small dialogue and it was broadly positive.

But I was really struck at just how dififcult it was, from the point at which I made time, including the 'can I see the manager please' - WHY? - through to the can you change your culture, it won't lose you money or customers if you do.

And it saves the environement!