With students spending the greater part of the day at school, it only makes sense that you teach them to be eco-friendly in class itself. Find simple ways to make your classroom more eco-friendly.
Don’t Waste During Lunch
Packaging waste accounts for about 30% of all trash each year. Encourage students and parents to pack lunches that include reusable packaging.
·reusable containers
·auto-seal cups
·cloth napkins
·reusable utensils
·resusable ‘baggies’
Since not all students will bring a zero-waste lunch, teachervision offers this great printable showing students what should be recycled and how to separate the waste, along with some more tips for packing a waste-free lunch.
Reduce
Communicate with your students and their parents on e-platforms. Create bulletin boards from upcycled items or reused items from previous boards. For classrooms with younger students, use items that might traditionally be disposed of for things like art projects.
Pens And Pencils
Disposable pens and pencils add to tons of plastic trash to landfills each year. Make your classroom a place where refillable pens made from recycled plastic or biodegradable plastic or materials from sustainably harvested wood or recycled paper.
Recycle
Make your classroom a recycle zone. Make some posters and promote your classroom recycling. Get your students involved in creating their own recycling center in the classroom .Including a craft bin for potential art materials is a great way to reuse things that might conventionally just end up in the recycling.
Classroom Environment
The type of lightbulbs and amount of insulation in your classroom is usually not something you control but you can make up for it by using the electrical needs well. Use compact fluorescent lightbulbs where you can. Bring in natural light and do away with switching on lights. If no one is in the room, switch off all the lights and fans.Make sure to shut the lights off when you leave.
Electronics
Most of us are using more technology in an effort to reduce paper waste.When printing, make sure you print double sided and opt for the ‘less ink’ option. Always use all and any energy saving computer settings, and use power strips to keep your idle electronics from consuming too much electricity. If your classroom has easy access to natural light, you can plan a solar powered science activity and innovate. This will be a good way for your students to unleash their creativity as well as make them socially responsible adults in future.