January Newsletter
Spring and Summer are a great time to make a difference!
Happy New Year! We hope you had a wonderful break and are feeling ready to empower young people to create positive change in 2024! The Spring and Summer terms are usually when eco-coordinators and their committees really begin making progress on delivering environmental projects and activities that will support nature, improve communities, and protect our planet! So, for the first newsletter of 2024, we’ve gathered some of our favourite, upcoming eco-initiatives to provide some further inspiration, please read on…
2024 Inspiration
During Spring and Summer term there are plenty of things to work on, including lots of environmental dates and events. Below is a selection of our favourites, and don’t forget to also check out Eco-Schools 50 Eco-Projects resource which contains 50+ of our favourite initiatives:
- RSPBs Big Schools’ Birdwatch is happening now, and ongoing until the 19th February.
- Count Your Carbon, the UK’s first comprehensive school calendar launches this term keep an eye on your inboxes in the coming weeks for a link to the calculator.
- World Book Day is on Thursday 7th March, celebrate reading and sustainability by organising a book swap in your school.
- This year’s Great Big School Clean is from 15th to 31st March, we will be sharing further details soon.
- Earth Hour 2024 is on Saturday 23rd March, but you could do your own electricity free hour in school on the Friday, or celebrate using free resources from WWF!
- FEE’s Global Action Days take place between April 22nd to May 3rd.
- No Mow May, don’t cut the grass during May (and maybe even Let it Bloom in June too).
- Walk to School Week begins on 20th May, and encourages families to ditch the car and travel actively to school.
- Outdoor Classroom Day on the 23rd May is great for allowing young people to form a connection with nature.
- Wildlife Trust’s 30 Days Wild takes place throughout June and contains plenty of fantastic ideas!
- This year’s Clean Air Day takes place on Thursday 15th June, Global Action Plan have resources to help increase awareness, spread the word, and celebrate.
- Take action in your school for Plastic Free July, here’s some ideas!
Count Your Carbon
Eco-Schools and Keep Britain Tidy are set to launch the UK’s first comprehensive carbon footprint calculator for educational settings. This tool will empower schools, nurseries, and colleges with the ability to calculate the carbon footprint of their estate. It will be free, easy to use, and simple to understand – providing every setting with a breakdown of their footprint. and a personalised report with ideas for next steps. Keep an eye on your inboxes in the coming weeks for a link to the calculator.
Eco-Schools’ Training
This year Bupa Foundation are funding free Eco-Schools training for schools, colleges, and nurseries. Our Spring Term sessions are open to all (even if you haven’t previously attended Eco-Schools’ Training) and they focus on expanding environmental education in your setting and engaging your wider school community in eco-activity. Each session is one hour long, beginning at 16:15!
Climate Change Lessons and Resources
Kapow Primary provides engaging and knowledge-rich lesson plans and schemes of work in 12 foundation subjects for primary schools, helping specialists and non-specialists alike to teach with confidence. Kapow Primary is working with Eco-Schools to help our subscribers engage their pupils in the fight against climate change through our lessons and resources.
Global Action Days
Each year the Foundation for Environmental Education plan Global Action Days. These days are designed to highlight how individual actions can impact our Earth’s well-being. Schools from all over the world participate and you’re invited to join too, find out more by clicking on the line below.
And Finally, Cut Your Carbon
In November 2023, thousands of young people and their families participated in Eco-Schools’ Cut Your Carbon campaign. The campaign shone a light on various aspects of our lives that combine to create our carbon footprint. It did this by challenging pupils to complete nine carbon cutting activities at home. In the next couple of weeks, we will be sharing a Cut Your Carbon impact report with all those who participated as well as contacting schools selected to win one of our three prizes. But for now here’s some stats that demonstrate when we all do a little, we can make a big difference!
- 36,452 pupils made one (or more) journey(s) more sustainable resulting in an approx. emissions reduction of 25,087 KG CO₂E
- 33,935 pupils went meat free for a day resulting in an approx. emissions reduction of 115,379 KG CO₂E
- 24,988 pupils turned their heating down by at least 1°C for a week resulting in an approx. emissions reduction of 74,464 KG CO₂E
