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Welcome, Welcome, Welcome.
Once again, class is in session and today's lesson is on green practices in schools. We are going to be covering the lot, from energy efficient tips, tricks on conserving that water, sustainable books that will keep you up at night and many more.
So quiet at the back and let's delve into some splendidly green practices to put you on the road to sustainability.
With hundreds of children sprinting up and down your school, we understand that you have to deal with a fair few challenges each and every second of the day. When you start the process of transforming your school into a more environmentally friendly setting, there are a number of challenges that you are bound to face.
Staff Training: Helping and creating training that will ease your staff into any changes and give them greater knowledge of the processes that will be coming into the school, will help not just your staff, but, will also benefit your children and school.
Cultural Barriers: Different cultures integrated into your entire school may have different opinions on sustainability. Overcoming these barriers are crucial to make schools a more sustainable future.
Limited Outdoor Space: Limited outdoor space to create sustainable areas and parts of nature can be a challenge that you may need to overcome. Try educational indoor areas to bring the outdoors, indoors.
Awareness: A lack of awareness or understanding of sustainability may hinder your progress. Educating your school community and parents is crucial to become a more sustainable school.
Budget: As always, cash is king. There may be budget restrictions and hoops to jump through before you can make your school more eco-friendly. Initial investments in energy-efficient technologies, renewable energy sources, or eco-friendly infrastructure may require substantial funding.
Saving energy is crucial not just for your school but for your staff. We understand the importance of saving your energy, especially your mental energy when you have the big and little rascals causing havoc around your schools.
Unfortunately, we cannot save your mental energy, but we are here to help you with your schools energy!
LED Lighting: Shed some light on your energy savings! LED bulbs use significantly less energy then traditional bulbs.
Thermostats Programmes: Get with the programme! Setting up a programme so that the heating comes on only at specific times is an easy way to save money and energy. Set the program to work alongside your Schools routine.
Natural Lighting: Step into the limelight. Place play areas or furniture near windows, to create a brighter environment and bring in a bit of natural warmth. You could also look at installing a skylight if possible.
Energy Efficient Appliances: Upgrade to energy efficient appliances with a higher star rating. Refrigerators, Washing Machines etc are all appliances that could be consuming more electricity then needed, so it is always worth paying a little extra for a more energy efficient item.
Educate your staff and children: Now that you have some practices in place, it is time to educate your staff and children on them. Host workshops for your staff & create energy activities for your children such as turning off lights to really instil your green initiatives.
Conserving water in and around your school is an ideal first step on the journey to becoming more sustainable & it isn't as hard as you think to get started.
Here are a few ways in which you and your school can conserve more water and save money:
Water Efficient Appliances: Purchase appliances which have a high water efficiency rating. This will save you money in the long run.
Educational Campaigns: Post your new education campaigns on your social media, create newsletters to send home to parents/caregivers, stick posters up around your school so that everyone knows exactly what goals you are striving for.
Water Audits: We know they are tedious, but Waste Audits, Water Audits, Energy Audits. Any audit that you can carry out in your school, will always give you a good idea of what your next steps are and what you need to focus on first.
Encourage Responsible Water Use: Promote responsible water use among students and staff. Encourage practices like turning off the tap while washing hands, using only the necessary amount of water, and reporting any water issues promptly.
If schools can make small improvements and make your classroom more eco-friendly and efficient, you are teaching students about green practices and fostering a place where sustainable education can thrive throughout the whole school.
Waste Sorting Games: Make waste fun for your children by making waste sorting games. Use these games to easily teach children about recycling, how to separate recyclables etc...
Classroom Recycling Bins: Keep colourful recycling bins in your classroom, that are clearly labelled so that your students know exactly what needs placing into what bins. This is a great way of instilling recycling methods into an early audience.
Creative Recycling Projects: Seek out recycled materials for art projects such as old cardboard boxes. You can get the children to bring them in. These could be Egg, Cereal, Shoe Boxes. Use different items to create Robots, Cars, Toys. Whatever your students want. This not only is interesting and exciting but shows them different steps to become a green school and improve your carbon footprint.
School Gardening with Compost: If you have the space, set up a school garden composting system. This will help teach students about the composting process and the benefits of reducing food waste.
Student-Led Recycling Programs: Set up a student council or eco-committee which will empower and give your students responsibility to lead recycling programs within your school. These teaches them to use their environmental education to look at more sustainable practices for your institution, as well as making new friends. You could call it the Green Club or Green Spaces. You could even hand out a green flag around the school for rewards or penalties!
Electronic Waste Recycling: Provide bins for your secondary school children to recycle into. With the amount of phones that they go through, you could probably create your own IT room.
Upcycling Workshops: Have students attend upcycling workshops where they can repurpose materials into new items. This encourages creativity and reduces the disposal of potentially useful materials.
Zero-Waste Events: Host zero-waste events for school functions, assemblies, or sports events. Minimize single-use items, and provide recycling and composting options.
By incorporating these tips and strategies into your school's green kick, you are not only turning into an eco school, but, you are fostering creative and new ways for your students to learn and equipping them with lifelong eco-friendly habits.
We have plenty more tips on reducing your waste, carrying out waste audits, composting etc...on our Comprehensive Waste Guide for Schools here: https://busybins.co.uk/blog/school-recycling-guide
As always, keep searching, keep exploring and keep learning. Just like your students!
Regular Cleaning Schedule: Create a cleaning schedule for your staff, so that it is regularly being cared for. Consistent cleaning reduces the need for harsher chemicals and those deep cleans!
Proper Ventilation: Ensure good ventilation during and after cleaning to reduce exposure to cleaning fumes. Open windows and doors to allow fresh air to circulate.
Steam Cleaning: Consider using Steam Cleaning instead of Mopping for your floors and surfaces. Steam cleaning can eliminate bacteria without the use of chemicals.
Spot Cleaning: Clean as you go. If you see a stain, clean the stain. We know, with 30/40 children trying to lick the stain off the floor, it isn't helping, but if you clean as spills happen, it reduces the need for those extensive cleans.
SESI: This is a zero-waste shop that provides eco-friendly cleaning products in bulk. They offer refill stations for various cleaning solutions, promoting a reduction in single-use packaging & making it easier for your schools to keep on top of stock.
Website Link: https://sesi.org.uk/
Shared Earth: Shared Earth offers eco-friendly products & gifts. This ranges from Stationary to Bamboo products. Everything you could possibly imagine can be found on this site. We could spend hours on here!
Website Link: https://tinyurl.com/yck9vee5
Bamboo Toys: There are a lot of bamboo produced products and toys out there that would be ideal for your Primary/Secondary schools. You can get Bamboo Rulers, Pencils, Paintbrushes & other art supplies. You can also get reusable lunch boxes made from Bamboo if you are feeling extra fancy and eco-friendly!
Eco-Friendly Board Games: Choose board games made from sustainable materials or those that promote environmental awareness. Games focused on nature, conservation, or recycling are some great options.
Cardboard Construction Sets: Cardboard construction sets allow students to create and build with recyclable materials. Once done, they can be recycled or composted.
Recycled Notebooks & Papers: Provide your students with recycled paper & notebooks & encourage the use of both sides of the paper, even though we know which side everyone likes to write on!
Recyclable Binders & Folders: Search for recycled binders and folders that have less plastic in them.
Refillable Water Bottles: Using refillable water bottles ditches single-use plastics and is 1 of the easier ways to make your school more sustainable.
Eco-Friendly Backpacks: Encourage your children to swap the plastics for recyclable backpacks. You could even send home a list of suitable backpacks to Parents/Caregivers so that they know exactly what to buy.
Using and encouraging your pupils to ditch the plastics for more sustainable products is key to make sure you're watching your environmental impact. By showing your students the different products & materials that can be reused & recycled, you are not only improving their involvement but teaching them the impact they have on their school and environment.
Balancing learning with laughter can be a fantastic way of highlighting areas of our planet that your children may not normally even think about. Here are a few books that would go a long way in teaching your class & staff about sustainable issues in all walks of life.
'The Last Wolf' - This story follows a young lad and a wolf, as they explore the impact of our human actions.
Book Link: https://tinyurl.com/3xk7k2uw
'Sea Book' - This book highlights the importance of our sea, introducing young readers to marine life.
Book Link: https://tinyurl.com/4wt9r4mz
'The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind' - Based on a true story, this is a great read which focuses on electricity to a village in Malawi.
Book Link: https://tinyurl.com/cc47r6a5
'The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History' - This is a book based on the ongoing mass extinction event caused by our human activities and its implications for the planet
Book Link: https://tinyurl.com/2s48js97
'Oil on Water' - This books explores our environmental impact on oil exploration.
Book Link: https://tinyurl.com/2y3pnvfh
The Pod by WWF: WWF's The Pod offers resources and activities for your school to support and engage students in environmental issues and sustainability. This website offers resources, case studies, and guidance for you and your school to get your teeth stuck into.
Website: The Pod
Project WET UK: Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) focuses on water education. This website offers water-related resources and activities for educators in the UK.
Website: Project WET UK
Energy Sparks: Energy Sparks is an online platform that helps schools understand and reduce their energy consumption. It offers resources, data analysis tools, and challenges to promote energy efficiency.
Website: Energy Sparks
As you very well know...when it comes to your students, Parents & Caregivers are crucial to encouraging sustainable living. Schools can have a big impact on a childs life, so getting the parents on board with your eco-friendly run is paramount.
Here are some sure fire ways to get the parents involved in your schools activities:
Parent-Child Projects: Create projects that both the parent & child can work on together. This could be anything a family gardening project or building a bird feeder or other items at home. Not only are you promoting environmental awareness but you are hopefully growing the bond between a parent & child.
Green Challenges at Home: Set targets to practice water & energy conservation, or set them challenge of walking to school if they usually use transportation.
Celebrate Achievements: Anytime you reach an achievement at your school, make sure to champion your efforts and reward this! Positive reinforcement is a great way of showing children they are doing great things as well as making their parents/caregivers proud. It is a win win.
Parent Workshops: Organise workshops that involve parents in hands-on activities. This could be anything from child development, different sustainable techniques or effective at home techniques. Make it fun for both the parents and children.
If you help the parents understand why you want them to take part and get on board with this, it could make your efforts a lot easier and in some situations, a lot quicker to implement.
You are one step closer to becoming an eco-friendly school.
The lesson is over. Thank you to everyone for being so well behaved.
The class is dismissed, so start your journey and get running down the halls of sustainability. We hope that you find our tips helpful and that they have made you more determined to make your school eco-friendly.
If we make a change at the very early stages of education be this in primary schools or secondary, we can really make a big difference to our future generations and the way our young children see the world.
So come and join the Green club, all members are welcome!
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