Schools are under constant pressure to give their students the best standards of education, while making efficient use of their resources. Taking measures to save energy and reduce wastage of material resources is not only economically sound, but will also make a positive environmental impact. In the process, we can teach students healthy habits and sustainability practices, that can set them on the course for being a lifelong friend of the environment.
A school typically consumes a lot of energy: lighting systems, fans, air-conditioning, computers and servers demand electricity. Schools also tend to produce waste, from both indoors as well as outdoors, in the form of paper, plastic, organic waste, glass and e-waste.
Simple measures to save the environment
Schools can follow simple measures to keep their use of resources low, reducing the amount of energy consumed and minimising waste output:
- Encouraging students to report any wastage of water, or electricity. They can turn off taps, switch off lights, computers and devices that are not in use by anyone.
- Encouraging students to perform an audit of the waste produced by the school eg. A kitchen waste audit or classroom paper waste. They can even be asked to team up to come up with creative waste management solutions.
- Installing marked waste bins in all areas of the campus, and encouraging the correct use of these bins will discourage littering and enable proper disposal and processing of waste.
- Educating staff and students about wastage of food and ingredients in the kitchens and cafeteria. The ingredients for the menu could be sourced responsibly, by selecting seasonal produce from local farmers.
- Teaching for environment sustainability and creating awareness in the classroom from an early age.
- Checking if any of the school stationery can be done away with or replaced with more environmentally friendly alternatives eg. Recycled notebooks and folders, eco-friendly art supplies and so on.
- Welcoming parents to join your mission. Encourage them to send children to school by the school transport or help carpool many students.
