Green your school
There is no better place to help students go green than at school. By letting students know what is going on in their local environment helps give them real reasons to adapt their lifestyle. Below are some simple steps to going green at school which can be implemented by the school, students or parents.
Computer conscious
Computers are being used more and more in classrooms. So how can you increase your childs IT skills while being environmentally aware.
• Switch off. Computers left on overnight or over lunch waste energy. Label computers to remind people to switch off. If they can’t switch off the machine, switch off the monitor. Computer monitors use 60% of the energy needed for the whole computer
• Choose computers, printers, fax machines, and photocopiers that have an energy-saving “sleep” mode that kicks in automatically after a period of inactivity.
• Invest in LCD computer monitors another great way of energy efficiency.
• Recycle old or outdated electronics. To find out more about your local electronic recycler check out the GreenMe recycling directory
Nature trail
Instilling a sense of connectivity to nature and the environment whether it’s a forest, field, or city park is essential to learning about the environment. When teaching your students about global issues such as climate change and endangered species, look to local issues such as animals in your county which are in decline, recycling or air pollution. Making it personal and connecting it to your community makes it real and more urgent.
Clean green
A lot of cleaning products used in schools are known to cause human health or other environmental problems. As a result, the way schools clean and maintain their buildings can have a significant impact on the health of the students and the quality of the education they receive.
• Look for the “Eco” logo on cleaning products our why not revert back to the old fashioned way of using baking soda, or vinegar.
Greener Fuel
Encourage your school to change to the more environmentally friendly renewable energy providers such as Airtricity. Not only will the school save at least 10% on each bill but you are also dong your bit for the environment
See the light
• Switch all lights to CFLs, which are up to four times more efficient than standard incandescent bulbs. Try ordering in bulk for your school and negotiating a competitive price which is easily achieved in the current climate
• Install Lighting controls, so lights only come on when needed. Or just mark switches clearly so that people only light the area that they need.
Zero waste class by class
A recycling programme throughout the school is great to see, but If your school is finding it difficult to implement recycling at-large, start a class by class policy of “zero-waste.”
• Set up recycling bins and audit how much rubbish is created in a day. Sorting rubbish will help kids understand how much waste they are creating in a day and where it’s all coming from.
• Challenge kids to pack zero-waste lunches by using reusable bottles, containers, and bags, rather than disposable ones.
• Competing with another classroom to see who can reduce their waste output the most is a great way to create healthy competition and less waste.
Why not turn the food waste into compost for the school garden. Check out GreenMe’s easy to use composting tips
Think before you print
• Encourage everyone to print less by sticking a sign above the printer and photocopier, such as ‘Think before you print to save energy and paper’.
• Make printing double-sided standard.
• Use recycled paper.
• Set up a refill system for ink cartridges.
Walk to School or Car pool
Encourage parents and students to walk to school, not only is it healthy and sociable it is also good for the environment. If the students live too far away from school to walk encourage parents to car pool and share lifts with other students who live in their direction
Melt down
Save energy by turning down your thermostat. Turn radiators off in areas that are used less often, such as corridors, hallways and storage areas. Old buildings are often draughty and poorly insulated, block up those draughts to stop heat escaping.
If you have some helpful tips on greening your school why not send them into GreenMe, we would love to hear from you.
Related Links
Calling all young green inventors
Related posts:
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- Green your general office behaviour
- Think Green For Going Back To School
- 10 Ways to be a Green Student
- NUI Galway launches Green Week
- Back to School
[...] Greenme placed an interesting blog post on Greening your school | Greenme: Sustainable Living BlogHere’s a brief overviewUse recycled paper. • Set up a refill system for ink cartridges. Walk to School or Car pool. Encourage parents and students to walk to school, not only is it healthy and sociable it is also good for the environment. … [...]
There is a programme within the UK called Eco Schools and is great for Teachers to work towards gaining the award stages of Bronze, Silver and a Green Flag. In addition, for most schools, it is led by the pupils of the school – actively through encouragement of fellow pupils and teachers to recycle more and switch off the lights through to looking at ideas for the whole school in having wildlife areas, growing of vegetables and even composting in each class.
Schools in England have seen a positive change in students achievement goals when given the ability to work in an outside classroom or be actively involved within greening their schools.
One area that does seem to go a miss is sustainable procurement. Evaluating where the products, ingredients and even services used around the school are from.