School Projects
Schools are a piece of city planning. It's not easy to decide where to build a school, so most communities think long and hard before selecting a location. By their very nature, schools have rather large carbon footprints. The size of the building and playground and parking lots cover a large amount of natural space. Here are some ways to balance out that impact.
Adopt a Green Space
A good steward is someone who takes good care of things. When kids take care of toys and clean up messes, they are being good stewards of their homes. Likewise, it's important for kids to understand how to be good stewards of the Earth by taking care of it and keeping it clean. Really good stewards of the Earth leave spaces cleaner than they found them. For instance, if you go to the park, you should make sure to put your garbage in the garbage can, but what if someone else littered? Do you just walk by? Be a good steward. Pick it up and throw it away.
As a class or a school project, you can research your community and find a local space you can adopt. Maybe it's a local park or a local trail. Select a few ideas and have students vote on which one they want to adopt. They can also choose actions, goals, and a project name. Some project ideas include:
Pick up trash around your school or at a nearby park and reuse the trash to create posters or signs about littering.
Work with local park and recreation or land managers to clean up a recreation area or plant trees.
Design flyers (on the reverse side of used paper) to educate people about land stewardship.
It can be a one-time community event or an ongoing school commitment through which different classes do the cleanups or other projects each month.
Whenever you choose to do park or playground cleanups, make sure you have parental permission and plenty of adult volunteers on hand to supervise the children. Some types of litter are not safe for children to touch. It's best if you can get trash grabbers (the poles with claws at the bottom), but protective gloves will also work.
Playground Planning
Whether you're in the position to build an entirely new playground or to spruce up an existing one, get students engaged in the process. It's a fantastic learning opportunity, and children are your number-one customers! Here are some eco-friendly ideas:
Use play structures made from recycled plastic, metal, or sustainably forested woods.
Given the current lack of long-term health impacts of using recycled tires as a playground surface, and the fact that the mining processes for pea gravel are not eco-friendly, it seems right now that wood chips may be the most environmentally friendly option to provide good cushioning if a child falls.
Get creative when you “decorate” your space. Use discarded paving stones for paths, reclaimed wood for decorative fencing, or whatever other reusable materials inspire you.
Make it a living space by incorporating native plants or even a small vegetable garden. If the space is fully paved, put your plants in raised boxes.
What do the kids want? Make sure you respectfully consider all ideas and invite students and parents to help with construction. One last thing: Don't forget to make your playground a pesticide-free zone. Children deserve to play somewhere safe and free of chemicals. Celebrate the opening of your playground with an outdoor environmental concert. The Kids for Saving Earth “Rock the World” concert has reproducible sheet music and scripts about creating an eco-friendly playground.
