greenecoschool

March 05, 2023

GETTING DOWN TO WORK

After a short break the Slovenian group is back to work.

A week ago, our students shared their plans with the whole group. Together, we singled out the projects that we were most interested in. We also finally unpacked the parcel we received a while ago from our Polish partner school. It was a nice surprise :)

Slovenian students get a nice photo from Poland

This week we focused on three main topics:

photo-documenting what is good, what is OK but needs improvement and what is definitely a flaw in terms of "Eco and green life" at our school
looking for creative ideas to reuse plastic items and waste paper and preparing a workshop for next week
designing prototypes for awareness signs, such as "Use less water, please".

Plan of the day

Students working on their projects

So what have our students found out?

Here are the things that we are proud of:

Solar panels

Our school gets electricity from solar panels that are on top of the school roof. The school fasade was also insulated some years ago, so the school needs less energy for heating in the winter.

School garden

The school garden is resting now but soon it will be bristling with local herbs and leafy vegetables that we use in the school kitchen. Of course, we will also plant flowers to attract bees.

We sometimes use the school garden as a small outdoor classroom.

Fruit

There is always fruit available for students in the school canteen.

Separate waste collection

There is a a separate waste collection area in front of the school. We mostly use it for waste paper.

And what needs improvement?

Awareness signs

We need new signs for awareness in our classrooms and around the school because the ones we have now are not attractive to the eye. Some are even grammatically wrong!

School meals

In our school, we usually have two meals - a mid-morning snack and lunch. There is usually quite a lot of food waste. We need to find a way to reduce it.

One of the ideas that has already been implemented is to have students design "The menu of the day" once a week.

Leftovers

Plants

There are some plants in the school building but definitely not enough. We can see them in the corridors but almost never in the classrooms.

And what needs absolute priority?

We definitely need to start separating waste already in the classrooms. There is a lack of bins in the classrooms, in the corridors and also in the playground. We assume that is one of the reasons why students litter so much in our school. We are planning to carry out a questionnaire to see if we are right and to find out what students' attitude towards littering and separate waste collection is.

We are also planning to design new paper baskets and put them in more visible spots as the ones we have now are easily overlooked. That is not a surprise - a "paper bin" is usually just an old cardboard box, where students throw in almost anything.