Academic excellence is the cornerstone of the development of every country worldwide. Schools continue to churn out gifted individuals, who occupy influential positions in society. There are many environmental initiatives which schools can do in order to promote sustainable development and protect the planet. Green schools require the leadership including School Heads, School Development Committees (SDCs), parents and students to value environmental sustainability. When you look at your school – whether current or former school, do you consider it to be a green school?
Waste Management
Schools host many students from all walks of life. Therefore, waste can be generated from food packaging, food leftovers, paper, plastics, cans and other waste streams. The best mechanism of dealing with waste is prevention. Inculcating a waste prevention culture is necessary to ensure that every child cares for the environment.
Schools should promote waste segregation and promote disposing of waste in bins. It should be taboo to see a piece of paper in school grounds. Good environmental stewardship in schools should include measures to manage waste during sports festivals, events, parent’s day, prize giving day and consultation days. School rules should discourage littering and promote a sense of environmental stewardship. There is also a very big potential for composting if there is organic material.
Advanced schools with high sense of environmental stewardship can also generate biogas from their canteen waste especially in the case of boarding schools where students reside at the facility. Biogas digesters can greatly reduce the costs of energy within the school as the gas can be used for cooking. Waste paper, stationery and packaging materials can easily pile up if not properly managed by the school.
Energy efficiency and renewable energy
Energy efficient lighting presents opportunities for many schools to green their future. Running solar systems in schools is also considered as a quick win in the quest towards fighting climate change. Energy efficient bulbs save schools high energy bills. Form the conception of the school, there must be a consideration of the potential for energy efficient buildings.
Water
Water consumption should be managed in order to conserve environmental resources. Schools should ensure that water is used in a manner that is not wasteful. Design of taps should ensure that they can be closed when not in use. The irrigation of school grounds should be managed with proper irrigation scheduling.
Greening the classroom through ICT learning
Schools can greatly reduce carbon footprint and paper usage through implementation of ICT. The computerisation of education and the digital age allows individuals to use less paper. Less paper translates into fewer trees cut down.
Tree planting and ecosystems protection
Schools can do a lot of endeavour in tree planting and ecosystems protection. Tree planting should be promoted amongst the students and the teachers throughout the year, not only during the National Tree Planting Days. For schools which are located in areas with vegetation, we greatly discourage the destruction of forests for purposes such as firewood.
Benefits of Greening Schools
Benefits of greening schools include:
- reduced carbon footprint
- low energy consumption
- less impacts of water and energy resources
- improved image of the school
- cost savings due to resource efficiency
According to the Green Schools Alliance, 87% of students from green schools carry forward environmentally friendly behaviours throughout their lifetime. The greening school initiative can result in a school reducing costs.
Shifting mind-set through green curricula
The curricula of education should include the need to care for the environment. It is easier to foster the behaviour of children to be sustainable at a very young age than to deal with older people who have their own way of thinking and are a bit hardened. Any form of sustainable lifestyle promotion should start with children because at this stage they can easily grasp concepts and are receptive to new ideas. Starting at Early Childhood Development (ECD) up until high school, the need for greening the mind-set is inevitable.
School Environmental Clubs
A number of schools have started formulating school environmental clubs where new environmental initiatives are promoted and implemented. A teacher or group of teachers in charge of the environmental club can offer guidance and students can become members voluntarily. Through such clubs, ethos of environmental consciousness are promoted. The longevity and sustainability of the clubs is upon the schools and the students but needs support by the specific school. The club can come up with activities related to environmental protection.
Auditing the school for environmental excellence
Auditing the school on environmental performance has become common practice. This can be used as a means of identifying opportunities and challenges related to the environment. If improvement is required, the audits will reveal information that the school can take advantage of. Without monitoring and measurement, it is difficult to assess performance. Audits can cover waste, water, energy, resource usage including monitoring behaviours such as littering. Corrective measures can then be implemented.
Greening the future through schools
The future will be determined by the lifestyles of young people. The way we dispose waste, travel, access energy and utilise water resources will define who we shall be in the years to come. The planet is in a crisis which needs us to act. The starting point could be schools.
