Eco Schools is a charity passionate about engaging young people in environmental education and action. They provide a seven-step framework that guides, empowers and motivates pupils to drive change and improve environmental awareness in their school, local community and beyond.
After completing the seven-step process, schools can then apply for Eco-Schools Green Flag accreditation, which recognises, rewards and celebrates the environmental achievements of young people.
Eco-Schools was founded in 1994, operates in 70 countries and engages 19.5 million young people globally. This makes Eco-Schools the largest educational programme on the planet.
Eco Schools has 10 key areas for children to choose topics from to base their work around, these are:
This year we have worked hard on improving our school site by rejuvenating our school gardens and carrying out regular litter picks. We have also taken part in national events such as The Great British Birdwatch and No Mow May. We also encouraged everyone to take their learning outside with days such as Outdoor Classroom Day. We have also worked to raise awareness of plastic pollution and took part in The Big Plastic Count. As part of this, we try to make sure we are a glitter-free school.
Glitter is essentially sold as a microplastic – the most environmentally-hazardous format of plastic. Microplastics can now be found even in the most remote places on Earth, samples have been found in Arctic ice and embedded on the seafloor, they have also been found in the stomachs of animals ranging from whales to humans. Again, even ‘eco’ or ‘biodegradable’ litter can take years to decompose damaging wildlife and our planet in the interim.
If you use glitter at home, maybe you could join us in our campaign for a cleaner, greener planet and try some of these Eco-Alternatives too.