Reducing Your Impact On The Environment In Your Classroom
Trying to minimize my impact on the environment is always at the back of my mind, especially every time I photocopy another worksheet for my students or see a full garbage bin at the end of each day. I am always on the look for better more efficient ways of doing things, particularly when it comes to the environment.
If it is a concern of yours to, how about trying some of these initiatives in your classroom to reduce your footprint;
- Have a recycling bin in your classroom for used papers
- Have a scrap paper drawer for students to use for free drawing or writing time
- Have a bin for collecting used water bottles and cans - allocate students to return and earn and save up the money to be used on the class
- Have a hand towel for the students to wipe their hands on near the sink rather than a paper towel
- Encourage students to pick up items from the floor at the end of the school day to reduce the time that the cleaner takes
- Hold a book swap – children bring in a preloved book and can swap it for someone else’s
- Turn classroom lights off at recess and lunchtimes and when no one is in the classroom
- Turn the Interactive Whiteboard off when it is not being used
- Maintain the heater/conditioner on a steady 23 degrees
- In summer put your blinds down to keep the classroom cooler
- Introduce an initiative such as ‘Waste-free Wednesday’ where students only bring naked foods or foods in containers. The bins are hopefully empty each Wednesday
- Encourage students to walk or ride their bike or scooter to school if possible
- Have a class audit of the rubbish and consider how you can reduce the amount
- Have a food scraps bin in the classroom which gets taken to the chickens or the compost bin in the gardens each day
- Consider maintaining a class garden and grow some fruits and vegetables such as lettuce, pumpkin, strawberries, carrots.
Is there anything else you do specifically in your classroom to help out the environment? Let us know below…