Teaching Students to Go Green
Simple Lessons That Show Students How to Protect the Environment
Sep 27, 2009
Today’s students will decide the future of the planet, yet they only celebrate Earth Week once a year, and then return to their regular routines. Teachers need to show that environmental education is just as important as reading and math by using these simple lessons to instill the importance of the environment on the next generation.
Protecting the environment needs to be a subject taught year round. Students need to understand their role in protecting the environment, and teachers need to show how.
Creative Copying
Classrooms use a lot of paper: lined paper, scratch paper, construction paper, and copies. Scratch paper can be eliminated by using the backs of unwanted paper like extra flyers. A salvage box can be used to save large enough pieces of construction paper that can still be used for arts and crafts. Lined paper should be written on both sides before being recycled. Of these, copies use the most resources. First trees are required to make paper, and then energy and ink are required to make the copies.
Creative copying is the solution. If students can copy it quickly and easily into a notebook, it doesn’t need to be photocopied. Spelling lists can be arranged so that two lists fit on one page. This cuts the amount of photocopies in half. Two letter sized pages can also be shrunk onto one legal sized paper by photocopying at 78%. Copying and pasting tests to eliminate blank space can cut a five page test into a three page test. Then reuse the test each year by having students write their answers on lined paper. At the end of the year, have students estimate how much photocopies had been saved by creative copying.
Using Green Supplies
Teachers create a lot of waste each year by throwing away millions of whiteboard markers. The common disposable types are non-recyclable and give off an awful smell from the Xylene. AusPen Refillable Whiteboard Markers are made from recyclable aluminum and the ink is non-toxic. Students wrote a persuasive letter to the principal to convince her to try the product.
Another product that teachers use a lot is staples. Notes, field trip forms, and homework need to be attached using a small metal wire. Since staples can’t be recycled, new resources are used to make the countless new staples teachers use each day. The EcoStapler solves this problem by eliminating the small metal wire. It uses a paper binding method to fasten up to five sheets of paper together. Students will be writing another persuasive letter this year; this time about a more environmentally friendly stapler. Having students write persuasive letters to the principal and seeing how they can revolutionize the school is a great motivator for learning how to read and write.
Recycling Everything
Many schools already recycle. The blue bin is for recyclables. The green bin is for leftover food from the cafeteria. The black one is for garbage. When schools join TerraCycle, even some garbage can be up-cycled by using garbage to make new things.
TerraCycle collects juice pouches, cookie wrappers, energy food wrappers, and a lot of other non-recyclables. They use them to create new products like backpacks, pencil cases, and folders.
Recycling is very important. Students need to understand why recycling is necessary. The landfill is limited and garbage is created every day. Students should create a graph based on Strange Trash Facts. The website gives students an idea of how long garbage takes to decompose. Students and teachers will be shocked by how long common things decompose. And with each person creating four pounds of garbage a day, students can quickly see why everyone needs to recycle.
Students need to understand why and how to protect the environment. They need to see their teachers and the school involved in environmental activities. They should see the planet as their home and protecting it should become second nature. Only then will environmental education reach its rightful place at school.
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