Tonbridge: Harnessing Sustainability and Educating the Next Generation
Tonbridge boys’ boarding school isn’t just committed to its own net-zero journey, but also inspiring and educating the next generation on sustainable living.
About Tonbridge School
Tonbridge was ranked the sixth best independent senior school in the UK by Sunday Times’ ‘Parent Power’ Schools Guide 2024—the highest placed boarding school in the nation. The institution also maintains the highest success rate for A-level success in the country.
But, the team at Tonbridge goes above and beyond the curriculum, having established a leading pastoral care system where it fosters strong relationships among staff, pupils, and their parents. This is backed by its ethos to make Tonbridge a home for both day-school and boarders under its supervision.
This caring ethos underpins Tonbridge’s approach to sustainability as an organisation, and an educator, resulting in a number of previous steps to reduce its impact—from switching light bulbs and other technologies to more efficient alternatives to clearly separated bins and removing general waste from classrooms. The school also has its sights set on various other achievements, including EV fleet adoption, on-site solar installations, and further measures to improve waste management.
One Mission. Multiple Generations.
Our work with Tonbridge was all about shifting focus. The school had already embarked on some incredible sustainability initiatives, such as acquiring Scope 1 and Scope 2 calculations, energy-saving light bulb installations, and liaising with its external waste management partner.
Our job was to provide a fuller picture of Tonbridge’s emissions and identify the best next step for them in their net zero journey. Using our bespoke data analysis and modelling approach, we identified previously unseen emissions associated with some critical stakeholders…
The Challenge
Tonbridge needed greater visibility of its emissions. Solar panel installations and electric vehicle adoption were high on the agenda, but some trickier carbon hotspots associated with pesky Scope 3 categories were still untouched, and Tonbridge correctly assumed that this is in fact where the bulk of its emission profile would lie. And as we are known to say, “You can’t manage what you haven’t measured!”.
Recognising the importance of accurate data in building a clear emission profile, and gaining buy-in from the schools governing body, MyCarbon supported a revamp of its carbon data tracking.
MyCarbon analysed its spend data, sense-checked previous carbon emissions calculations, and created a model to simplify emissions tracking, targeting key emissions hotspots first.
The Work
Our audit of Tonbridge’s current and prior emissions data ensured no emission areas went unnoticed.
Tonbridge made a great start with a spend-based approach, but to enhance its Scope 3 management, we delved into activity-based data to tease out the nuanced carbon impact related to specific functions and actions. This included the supply of food products to its catering facilities, recording GHGs from overseas travel, and various energy options. This put into perspective Tonbridge’s original strategy to revamp its energy and fleet, which only accounted for 13% of the school's overall emissions.
The activity-based data analysis showed us more pressing areas for reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 3. These include consumption of natural gas—which generated 36% of its emissions—and sourcing food products from catering suppliers, accounting for 29%.
Next Steps for Tonbridge
We’re excited to see Tonbridge progress further with its carbon reduction strategy and mobilise its pupils and teachers in the process of achieving net zero.
From 2025, the school will generate energy from heat pumps and MyCarbon will support Tonbridge to find suppliers that complement its net zero goal. Will Biddle, the newly appointed Head of Sustainability at Tonbridge, believes the window for opportunity spans the next 10 years, in which the team hopes to have a holistic view of all its Scope emissions, and measures in place to drive them down.
With its pupils keen to learn more and engage in sustainability activities, we’re hopeful that carbon reductions will take place through better decision making within a new, educated generation.
The Result
If we’ve said it once, we've been heard saying it a million times… ‘you can’t manage what you can’t measure’.
The combination of Tonbridge’s appetite for sustainable change, and MyCarbon’s expertise in Scope 3 calculation, means that future resources can be allocated effectively to fuel its impact initiatives.
MyCarbon will continue to support Tonbridge in this process as the teams work together to deliver a holistic data-tracking model and secure much-needed services.
Partner with MyCarbon
For anyone looking to navigate the intricacies of net zero and science-based targets, we at MyCarbon are here to guide the way.