Meet the Eco Panthers
Meet our Eco Panthers Parent Group
Friends of Dulwich (FoD) is a vital part of our College community. The all-volunteer parent organisation puts on events and activities throughout the year. FoD has numerous groups within it which support the practical needs of College families while also generating funds for selected community initiatives. In honor of Earth Day, we caught up with the Eco Panthers, one of the newest FoD groups.
Eco Panthers was founded in November 2020 by Singaporean Janice Yeo, who has been in Shanghai since 2008 and a Dulwich parent since 2018. "Last year I attended Dulwich’s sustainability meeting as a parent rep and was very inspired by Dulwich’s pledge to make our school more eco-friendly," she says. But she didn't want to go it alone.
A community would make a bigger impact.
"I felt that a community would make a bigger impact," Janice says. "We are all at different levels of sustainable living. Through sharing, parents can really inspire each other to keep trying, making small changes to our way of life. And it is definitely more fun to do it as a group!"
After consultation with Anthony Reich, our Director of Global Citizenship, she set up the Eco Panthers. "We hope to bring more parents on board to pledge for lifestyle change, to make the world a better place to live in," Janice explains.
Advocating for Lifestyle Change
The Eco Panthers have been actively contributing practical tips for sustainable living on a weekly basis through their Wechat group which is now 50 strong and growing. Every month they compile the tips into a newsletter which they share to the wider DCSPD community.
They have also launched a series of offline events. At their first workshop in April they shared vegetable-based cooking tips and made tote bags using old t-shirts.
They have forged a new nexus between sustainability, creativity and charity through these upcycling projects. For example, they recently took remaindered school banners and turned them into purses, wallets and bags which they then sold at the Own What You Eat event on 17 April, all proceeds going to support DCSPD's Green Panthers Co-curricular Activity (CCA) student club. The effort proved so successful that other schools approached them for advice on what to do with their own left over banners.
The Eco Panthers will also be supporting DCSPD's Craft CCA, demonstrating crafting projects using existing materials found at home or in school, all with a zero-waste concept in mind.
The Eco Panthers are passionate about changing the way we live on and interact with the planet.
"Global warming, unsustainable living have become major problems, and many people think that individual effort will not make a difference," Janice says. "We hope to raise awareness that we are not alone at it. We like to gather as many parents as we can to do our little part, take baby steps to make a change in our lifestyle and habits so that we live to see the Earth be a better place for future generations, and be proud that our individual efforts made a difference."
Promoting Sustainability
The other Eco Panthers are equally passionate about the group's mission.
Eco Panthers is a platform with great tips and tricks to live more sustainably.
Says Melissa Lien, mother of Year 7, 10 and 12 students, "I appreciate the efforts of the Eco Panthers Wechat group. It's a platform with great tips and tricks to live more sustainably. Because the members live and work in my local community, the suggestions are practical, available and easy to implement."
Eco Panthers is a small sustainable step towards a greener earth.
Says Surbhi Gupta mother of Year 6 and 12 students, "Eco Panthers is a small sustainable step towards a greener earth. A little contribution of an eco tip from each member is a step toward a sustainable, eco-friendly community living with the 5Rs - refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose, recycle.
I find it's great to connect with parents on eco-issues.
Says Amita Puri mother of Year 11 students, "Having previously worked with schools and students on sustainability and eco-projects, I find it great to connect with parents on eco-issues - share tips, learn new stuff, and reduce waste in our small little ways!
Let’s look around our homes to see if we can find something to use instead of buying.
Says Viral Soni mother of Year 12 student, "Eco Panthers gave me a platform to learn from other people and share my ideas on what practical things we can do in our daily lives to pass on a better environment to the next generations. I would like to end with the best quote I’ve seen so far on sustainability: 'The most sustainable thing is the thing we did not buy.' Of course we can’t avoid buying new things all the time but let’s try to keep it to the minimum. Let’s look around our homes to see if we can find something to use instead of buying."
Inspiring words from our committed community - everyone can do their part!
Our Sustainability Pledges
Three key focus areas:
