Save the Earth in Your School
Saving the earth can be as easy as ABC. Save the earth with the alphabet. Here are some of the things you and your students can do to help the earth, from A to Z!
A
- Always consider the environment when performing your daily school activities and tasks. Always think about how your daily routine – commuting to school, using paper and other supplies, turning the computer on, dumping your lunch waste --- can affect the environment.
- Act now! It’s never too late to start caring for the Earth. Even young students can save the environment.
B
- Buy school supplies made of recycled or recyclable materials. When you buy a product, choose the one which uses less packaging.
C
- Clean your classrooms and the surroundings of your school. Cluttered rooms become less ventilated and poorly lit, making you consume more energy for room ventilation and lighting. The more we use energy, the more we contribute to global warming.
- Create a compost pile in your school yard. Collect food scraps (vegetable and fruit peelings, egg shells, leftover food, etc) from the canteen and use this as soil fertilizer instead of buying chemical fertilizers.
D
- Donate old school materials and supplies to the local orphanage, daycare, or church instead of throwing them right away. This will help reduce the amount of waste in our landfills.
E
- Earth Day is everyday! Earth Day is not just an occasion we celebrate every April 22nd, it is a practice we must observe everyday, in everything we do.
F
- Fix leaky faucets in pipes in your school and report faulty electrical wirings, inefficient light bulbs. Think of the amount of energy and water that will be wasted if these utilities are not working properly.
G
- Go outside! Holding your classes outside the classroom will not only help the school save on energy, it will also help arouse your students’ appreciation for nature.
H
- Help out! Saving the earth is more fun when you are with your friends. Create an “Earth Barkada” and volunteer on environmental projects and campaigns.
I
- Investigate and estimate your school’s energy consumption, waste, and carbon emission. You can use Earth Day Network’s School Energy Audit to identify ways on how your school can reduce its use of energy and other resources.
- Install energy-saving fluorescent lamps and light bulbs in the classroom and faculty offices. Install low-flow aerators to the faucets and low-flow toilets.
J
- Join local environment groups. To raise your students’ awareness on environmental issues, you can encourage them to participate in your community’s environment projects. You and your students can also join environment-related competitions or online projects like Cyberfair.
K
- Kick your old habits! Littering, leaving unused appliances plugged, using materials more than what we need, creating unnecessary noise --- these are just a few of the earth-damaging habits that we all should say goodbye to.
- Keep small trash like candy wrappers in your pocket first if there are no trash bins around. Keep used materials like paper, aluminum foils, plastic bags, notebooks, and cardboard and recycle them.
L
- Learn and understand what global warming and climate change are all about. Learn the causes and effects of these phenomena. Incorporate environmental studies in your subject curriculum. Allot a few minutes of your class period to discuss news and researches about environment issues. If we clearly understand the problem, then we can solve it!
- Love the Earth. Students can write essays about how they can show their love for nature and the environment. Encourage your students to use recycled materials to create pin buttons, stickers, or scrapbooks with earth-friendly statements and tips like “I love the Earth” or “Earth-lovers rule!” or whatever catchy phrase they can think of.
M
- Maintain the cleanliness and orderliness of the classroom. Keeping the classroom clean and taking care of classroom equipment and school facilities will save a great amount of money and energy!
N
- No to plastics and styros! Advise your canteen administrators to use less plastic bags or plastic spoons and forks as much as possible. Recommend washable utensils and use recycled paper bags for sandwiches. Discourage students to use Styrofoam and other plastic-made materials in their class projects.
O
- Organize an Earth Day celebration in your school. Organize forums/workshops, clean-up or tree-planting activities, schoolyard sale, poster-making contests, and other fun activities for your Earth Day event.
P
- Plant trees in your school yard and put air-cleaning plants in the classroom. For your livelihood or agriculture class, have your students plant a mini garden.
Q
- Quit dumping toxic materials such as science laboratory chemicals, plastic, or used batteries in your school’s sinks or soil. Segregate toxic wastes, label them properly, and surrender them to local waste management facilities.
R
- Reduce, Recycle, Re-use! The 3R’s are easy to remember and easy to do. There are lots of materials in school which can be recycled and re-used to reduce the amount of waste we generate. Start a school recycling program.
- How to recycle and re-use school materials:
- Aluminum foil – cut into small pieces and use as glitter for art projects
- Plastic bottles – decorate and turn into coin banks or into a maracas; can also be used as a trash bins, pencil holders, and many more!
- Plastic bags – do not throw these in bodies of water and do not burn them; re-use them; recycle and turn into ropes, table/desk covers, or décor.
- Glass bottles – decorate and turn into vases, fish tanks, candle holders, etc.
- Old books and magazines – donate to local libraries; cut out pictures and make a collage; shred and use for crafts
- Crayons – melt into wax and use to decorate vases; make into shavings and use as glitter
- Paper – cut into squares and use as memo pad; use for wrapping gifts; shred and recycle into a special paper for greeting cards and crafts
- Cardboards, used envelopes/folders – cut, decorate and turn into flash cards; re-use to make posters and signs; re-use to make boxes for storage
- Spiral notebook wire – re-use to bind unused notebook fillers; re-use for crafts projects
S
- Segregate and supervise. Segregate your school wastes and verify with your local waste management that recyclable materials are really being recycled and/or non-biodegradable or toxic wastes are truly being handled properly.
- Save water, save electricity, save energy! Open the windows in your classrooms so you won’t need to turn the lights and the fans on. You can even hold your classes outdoors! After class hours, switch off the school’s main water valve. Your school’s PTCA can also consider investing on wind-powered or solar-powered energy sources.
T
- Turn it off! Do not leave your classrooms without checking first if all the lights, fans, computer units, and other electronic devices are turned off and unplugged. Post “Turn it off” signs on doors and switches.
- Time your usage. You can set rules on when to use water and lights. Set timers for your lights, fans, or air conditioners so that no energy will be wasted!
U
- Use and re-use. It takes hundreds of trees and tons of energy to produce your set of books, notebooks and pads so use them wisely! Take good care of your school supplies so you won’t need to buy again. Collect your old notebooks, bind the clean pages, and re-use them next school year. There are a lot of materials which you can re-use – just be resourceful and creative!
V
W
- Walk to school. Or ride your bike! The less number of vehicles on the road, the more energy we conserve. Air pollution will be reduced too!
- Write and make your stand. Encourage your students to write essays or letters discussing environmental problems in the school or in their communities. A signature campaign can also be a powerful way to raise awareness and address these issues.
X
- eXplain global warming to others and educate your parents, siblings, and neighbors on how to solve the problem.
Y
- You are the key! “Be the change you want to see in the world,” political and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi once said. Start changing your lifestyle and influence others to save the earth too!
Z
- Zest it up! Saving the earth is not all about following rules and tips. Even superheroes have fun too! Conduct games, contests, fairs which can better motivate your students to be part of your earth-saving campaign. Rewards and recognition for the “Earth Friend of the Month” or the “Energy Saver of the Day” will be most welcome too!
Can you add more tips to our “alphabet” list? What efforts does your school make to help the earth? Send in your suggestions and stories to smartschools@smart.com.ph!
(Published 31 March 2008, Smart Schools Program)
