Environmental club ideas/aim!?

Question

Our school now started a club and I'm looking for ideas to bring awareness to the students about how the environment is being destroyed and how we can help in simply and fun terms for them to understand!

Also, I can't think of an aim...any Ideas!?!

Answer 1

There are lots of things you can do to help make your school more environmentally friendly:

- Encourage your cafeteria to stop using Styrofoam dishes and instead try using the ones that can be reused and washed (if its possible to get funding). It would be great if you can also convince your school to cook using locally grown foods. You can do a "Salad bar" during spring and fall, which will encourage kids to eat more veggies. You can have your school contact local farmers and see what they can do for your school.

- Post signs throughout each and every classroom/staff room/library/etc that encourages students and staff to turn off the lights during recess/lunch/at the end of the day.

- Try having a tree planting day for one day a month or so

- Encourage reducing! Ask that a note be placed in the staff room around the photo copy machine to encourage printing on both sides of the page (which in turn reduces the amount of paper needed, and therefore saves your school money!).

- Bring up the idea of planting a natural garden in your school yard (if it's possible). Anything can be planted, from beautiful native flowers from your city or area, to a vegetable garden filled with tomatoes, lettuce, etc (plus: if your school has a food and nutrition class, the kids can use the vegetables in the classroom; again saving your school money). You can raise money for the garden by hosting a "movie night" in the afternoon and playing environmental movies such as "An inconvenient Truth", "The 11th Hour" and "The Simpson's Movie".

-"Adopt" the street your school is located on and have a clean-up day once a month of the street.

- Send out a monthly "green" newspaper either through email/your school's website or on paper (double sided printing!) so that way you inform students of the school of what you guys are doing as well as any upcoming events. This way, if more students are interested then you can get a better turn out on events, helping to promote sustainability and the environment.



Here are a few tips to help your school reduce electricity costs:

- Ensure that the programmable thermostats in the school is set to 21 C in the winter and 25 C in the spring and summer.

- Have your school replace old inefficient computers and TVs/VCRs/DVD players to Energy Star rated ones.

- Encourage the school to change to CFL lightbulbs



Another neat idea is to set up a swap program (maybe you can call it "Swap-a-roo"...if its not too cheezy) and the kids can bring in old computers, desks, back packs, and anything else school related that other needy-students would want but cannot afford, or can exhange for items they've been wanting to get. This way, you are encouraging students to reduce the waste that they were to have made if they were to have tossed it in a landfill.



An aim you can get your school to do is: compete with other schools to be the greenest one; have recycling competitions between the classes for a week/month, plus with this you can aim to be the top school that recycles.



I hope some of these suggestions helped! Good luck!

Answer 2

Recycle: Extending the life of objects bound for the dump is a great way to start being "green". It reduces the trash buildup in the overfilling, polluting dumps.

Reuse: This tip has the same principal as recycling: extending the life of a product. This tip actually is better than recycling because the material does not have to be re-processed;thus, saving energy and time. This applies to methods like reusable shopping bags and reusable canteens.

Reduce: This method is the best of the three. Not consuming in the first place saves the energy lost by both the other tips and the reprocessing energy saved by the "reuse tip". Reduce your trash impact by composting. Also, not buying materials that overly use plastic to package.





Organic Food/Gardens:

Eating organic is the way to make sure no harmful chemicals enter your body, but also the environment. Organic Farms:

-do not release synthetic pesticides into the environment

-sustain diverse ecosystems (biodiversity)

-create less waste

-are more energy efficient

No matter how well pesticides are controlled, they always end up in the air and water around the farm, even in the workers themselves. According to the Consumer's Union, 77 percent of non-organic food has synthetic pesticide on it.

There are a lot of resources available to help avoid these chemicals. A simple, but helpful organic cookbook can be found here. If you are willing to give a little more time to make sure your food is safe, why not go into HydroPonics? HydroPonics is growing food without soil, so it is perfect for anyone with limited space.



Solar Power:

Solar power is the most abundant fuel available. Solar power is essential for a sustainable lifestyle. Using only a fraction of that power can solve all of our energy needs! It is the fastest growing market, with an increase of 48% a year since 2002. Once a solar panel is installed, you don't really have to worry about it much. Also, there is the potential to make money from the power company. When you use less than the solar panel produces, then the extra energy is put back into the grid. Make money from the power company? Why doesn't everyone do this? Well, solar power, although abundant, is the most expensive way to produce electricity. Oil, on the other hand, is cheap. Because there is relatively low demand for it, solar power does not grow to it's full potential; therefore, the panels stay as an expensive luxury, when it could slash the electricity bill.

Another option is to build your own solar panels or wind turbine. This could be a PROJECT for you environmental club. It really only takes some initiative. Most people dismiss this option because it seems like only the scientists and engineers can build these seemingly magical sources of energy. A little research reveals that all wind turbines are just spinning magnets with wire around them. The concept is elementary. As for solar panels, purchasing the silicon mixture (the blue metal) and attaching it to the other components is still cheaper than buying one already done, but like I said, it takes some initiative. http://tiny.cc/solarandwind



Solar Water Heater:

Another solar power option, is a solar water heater. It is a great way that is not complicated at all. It is simple: the heater uses the sun's power to heat the water, with no gas or coal. Like the solar panels and wind turbine, a solar water heater can also be built for a lower cost. http://dwarfurl.com/c1222

Answer 3

Starting a recycling program at your school is great idea. My school recently got one and the people in environmental club pick up the recycling from classrooms and stuff. Then, somebody takes the recycling to a center, and the club recieves a profit. Also, look for an environmental group that does stuff in the city you live in. For example, my environmental club goes to cleanups organized by I Love a Clean San Diego.

Answer 4

An aim might be to think of ways you impact the environment. Some everyday things, like recycling, paying attention to using electricity, biking or walking instead of driving, using the library or sharing CDs instead of buying a lot of plastic, finding retro clothing at the 2nd hand shops (Goodwill, etc.).

You could take field trips to outdoor parks to be aware of the natural environment around you, and then clean up the trash. Mostly just be outdoors.

Answer 5

Easy changes to make your school Ecofriendly.



Cafeteria:

Use recycled paper products, start with napkins

Reduce packaging, no individual condiment packages

Use reusable, recyclable or at least biodegradable serving dishes

See how they recycle their oil from the fryer. Get them to use it for Biodiesel

If they have to use plastic, try to find one that can be recycled



Office/Admin

Use recycled paper as much as possible.

Print on both sides

Turn off all computers, printers lights etc. in the evening.



Bathrooms/locker rooms

Use recycled toilet paper, paper towels and seat covers

Install low flow adapters on all sinks.

Use electric hand dryers

If the gym has a washing machine use ecofriendly laundry soap

Use vinegar in the rinse cycle as a natural antibacterial and fabric softener



Overall campus

Adjust thermostat by 1 degree up in the summer down in the winter

Unplug all appliances when not in use

Install motion sensors in class rooms so the lights go off when empty

Increase paper recycling

Recycle all ink cartridges

Put out recycle bins

Water lawns on alternate days

Try to get alternate energy installed when possible

Try to encourage students to walk, or bike to school instead of being dropped off

Institute an no idle zone in the parking lot, some parents park and run their a/c for 30 minutes while waiting for their student.

Make Students and Parents aware of green options for school supplies

Increase recycling, school saves money for garbage disposal

Organize an e-waste and/or hazardous waste drop off

Organize an ecofashion show or green transportation demo



Sports

Talk to teams about using organic cotton or wool for uniforms, avoid polyester.

Recycle polyester uniforms

Talk to Booster about using organic cotton or bamboo for spirit T-shirts.

Encourage concession stand to use reusable/recycled/biodegradable serving items

Encourage concession to reduce packaging and recycle cardboard

Answer 6

Try to clean up an ecosystem or an animals habitat if you live near some wild life areas. If you live in an urban area you could try to get your school to recycle.

Answer 7

Teach them to go green.

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