Is your school a nice place to be, or are your surroundings looking a bit run down? Is it a concrete jungle? Is there graffiti all over the place? Does litter blanket the grounds? Are there areas of lifeless grass? And this is just the outside! Maybe your school could do with a makeover.
What is the Eco Schools programme?
The Eco Schools programme works to minimise the negative impact that your school may have on its environment. Everyone gets involved – pupils, teachers, non-teaching staff, school board members, parents, your local authority and local radio, press, TV, shops and businesses.
The beauty of taking part in the Eco Schools programme is that it takes only a little effort on your part to make a big contribution to environmental issues in your school. It’s common sense really!
Think about it.
- What happens to all that waste paper – for example, old exam papers, out-of-date books, jotters and reports? Is it just dumped, or is it shredded or collected to be recycled?
- What about all the electrical energy wasted during the school day – for example, classroom lights left on, computers still running? How about making posters with energy information, and placing them next to the switches – with an instruction to turn them off!
- Wasting water? Showers with push buttons rather than taps that could be left on, low-litre flush units in the toilets, lagged pipes in the winter ... all these are simple but effective measures!
- Litter? Perhaps the worst blight on the school landscape, but also something that pupils can tackle directly. Bin it - but are there enough bins?
- Grassy areas? Could these do with a school 'garden force' to landscape the area? Put in a few picnic tables for break and lunchtime (healthy) eating.
- Ban the cans! Make the school a 'no can zone' or, if people must bring cans to school, make sure they are collected for recycling.
- Healthy living! Bring a healthy packed lunch to school on a designated day and don’t put anything in the bin – that means that you have to eat it all up!
- Transport: is it pupil powered? Get cycle racks put in the grounds for all the bikers.
What does your school get out of the programme?
Simply by following ideas like these, of which there are many more, your school can enjoy the benefits of the Eco Schools programme in that it:
- makes environmental issues a part of school life
- gets young people involved in making decisions
- provides free information packs for eco-projects
- involves talking to other schools around the UK and in Europe
- results in an award that means something
- gets your school noticed in the local media
- saves lots of money on school energy bills.
Useful web links
- Eco Schools Scotland
The Eco Schools Scotland website has information about the awards, how to apply and free downloadable resources for Scottish schools. It also has a teacher free zone designed especially for pupils. - Planet.com
The Planet.com website produced by Channel 4 has games, activities and information on eco projects you could try in your school. - Think Energy Students Zone 11-14
The Think Energy Students Zone for 11-14-year-olds has lots of activities about how to reduce the amount of energy we use and how energy works. - Recyclezone
The Recyclezone website has games, activities and advice about recycling and reducing rubbish at school and at home. - Glass Forever
The Glass Forever website has interactive facts and information all about glass recycling. - Grounds for Learning
The Grounds for Learning website provides information on how the Scottish school grounds charity can help your school improve the school grounds for play and learning.
