The year for green fingers

01/04/10

2010, International Year of Biodiversity; how eco-friendly have you been so far?

With the fast approaching Government target of every school being sustainable by 2020, do we need to consider how we are actually helping our youth to understand the hows and whys of eco-friendly actions?

To a young child the topic of sustainability is no doubt incredibly overwhelming. If I think back to  my time at school, terms such as ‘eco-friendly,’ ‘climate change’ and ‘endangered species’ were  difficult to comprehend. Even once I was older and had a better understanding, it was still tricky to understand their meaning and the extent of the damage suffered by our planet. Text books and the Internet certainly had their limitations; after all it’s only a one dimensional form of learning...

With sustainability undeniably a topic that many young people overlook, we need to consider how we can help them understand the need for sustainability. What is the importance of being environmentally friendly? Why do we need to protect the planet’s biodiversity; forests, endangered animals and diminishing amounts of fuel and energy supplies?

Will it be through nature inspired play equipment that allows young children to find their green fingers? This could actively encourage children to feed and grow their own plants or herbs; or recycle their lunch left-over’s so to understand the natural process of composting and recycling.

Or can school financial management tools offer a solution to help reduce a school’s carbon footprint? Will ICT based meal management systems be the answer to correctly sized school meals thus limiting food waste?

Or, could a career advice service that advises our youth on their employability and how certain jobs can impact positively on our world hold the key to environmental enlightenment? Children don’t want to be told, nor shown how to be ‘green;’ let’s give them the chance to actively engage with their future and make a real difference to their planet.