Organise an environment day or week

Organising an Eco Day or Eco Week can be a great way to get your school started on a course to becoming more sustainable. It can involve everyone and be a fun and exciting way to tackle some serious issues. Some ideas for a succesful event as well as useful contacts are listed below.

Planning

• Set a date - give yourself time to prepare
• Publicise - make sure everyone knows the event is taking place and what they will be doing
• Try to include everyone in the school as well as parents, governors and the wider community

Aim

• Decide on an achievement for the event, for example, an Eco-School award or something in place at the school, such as a new wildlife area or an energy saving poster campaign

Inspiration

• Invite someone to come and speak from talk action

Other organisations

Other organisations can help provide advice, resources, or take part. Here are a few suggestions

• Buildings and grounds: Groundwork, Southwark Parks 
• Energy and water: Thames Water, Carbon Trust
• Purchasing and waste: Global Action Plan
• Global dimensions: Fairtrade, Oxfam

Celebrate

• Frame and display your Eco-Schools certificate

Stop press

• Let everyone know about your achievements through the school newsletter, website, or plasma screen
• Get in touch with the local newspapers: Southwark News and South London Press

Do it again

Repeat the event next year, this time go for a week instead of a day, or a silver Eco-Schools award instead of bronze.