Sustainability and environmentally friendly developments are dependent on concerted effort from the bottom up. One of the places where a single individual can make a huge difference is on school campuses. Students showing initiative and lobbying for alterations to be made is likely going to be received well, with much of what they want changed actually being quite easily achievable. If you think your school campus isn’t sustainable enough in its practices, then here are a few things that you can think about trying to alter to achieve all of your green dreams.
- Make Sure Recycling Bins Are Easy To Find
Recycling bins are a classic example of something that’s easy to implement that can make a massive difference. Problem is, if they’re placed too obscurely, or require too much effort to use, they might as well not be there at all.
- Light Reminders
Another one that is easy to create. Print off 50 or so reminders for people to switch off lights and put them by light switches. “Students often don’t see it as their responsibility to ensure energy is saved. A simple poster can serve as an effective reminder of the importance”, says Scarlet Howard, educator at Academized and Big Assignments. Yes, you are printing paper but the overall benefit should be much greater than the loss.
- Set Up Car Sharing
This one is a bit more complex. Having everyone driving to the campus is damaging to the environment. If you are able to, you should look to see if you can persuade people to offer their services for car sharing. Create a databank of where people drive from each day to help pair people up.
- Advertise All Public Transport
Public transport is a great solution to the problem of inefficient and unsustainable travel. Make sure that all of the public transport options available to your peers are made really clear, so that people can use them.
- Lobby For Banning Plastics In Lunchroom
Lunchtime can be a really damaging time for the environment, in a lot of different ways. One real problem is the overreliance on plastic. With a little imagination and some alternative sourcing, this problem can be easily overcome.
- Deal With School Food
School food is a tricky issue, and one with so many areas where positive change could be achieved. “There are lots of different routes you can take, from demanding a rigorous recycling station for food waste, to making sure that food is sourced more locally and less reliant on giant produce suppliers”, says Deborah Payton, nutrition blogger at StateOfWriting and College Assignment Help.
- Have A School Garden
A really fun, educational advancement that will help everyone to get involved. A school garden can be as simple or complex as you like and will make a big impact on your local environment.
- Have A School Vegetable Patch
This is one that can help work towards a solution for your school meals. If some percentage of the food offered in your cafeteria was directly from the school veggie patch (which was then composted with waste) you’d have true sustainability.
- Cut Down On Paper Waste
Go electronic when you can and make sure that students aren’t throwing away paper that hasn’t been fully used.
- Install Solar Panels
It can be a bit expensive to install them, but they’re a massive help in creating a more sustainable school.
Conclusion
As you can hopefully see, there is so much that can be done to make your school more sustainable, and without all that much effort in some cases. If you are able to, try out a few of these and make your school a green one!
Aimee Laurence is an health and environment editor at UKWritings reviews and Type My Essay websites. She writes about the connection between human wellbeing and the environment. In her spare time, Aimee also tutors at the Sociology Essay Help portal.