Greta Jimenez
Schools are often located near busy roads, which can expose students to high levels of air pollution. Children are more vulnerable to air pollution than adults, as their bodies are still developing. To save your school from pollution, you can implement an Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) management program, which can improve health and decrease student and staff absenteeism. You can also encourage your school to raise a flag each day that corresponds to the local air quality forecast, to help teach and protect students. Other ways to save your school from pollution include creating a classroom club to reduce waste, participating in community cleanups, and recycling paper and plastic.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Walking to school | Walking groups can be set up to avoid parents driving their children to school individually |
| School location | Schools should be located away from main roads, with safe walking/cycling passages to link the school premises with main connecting roads and housing/communities |
| Reducing time spent at traffic intersections and bus stops | Minimising time spent at traffic intersections and bus stops will reduce exposure to pollution |
| Reducing exposure to harmful vehicular pollutants | Keep away from the edge of the road when walking to or from school; schools should suggest alternative, cleaner routes (e.g. passing through parks) |
| Reducing exposure to harmful vehicular pollutants | Using high-riding prams rather than low-riding pushchairs can raise the breathing height of the child and reduce their exposure |
| Reducing exposure to harmful vehicular pollutants | Carrying babies or young children (e.g. in a baby carrier backpack) at and around pollution hotspots, where it is safe to do so, may also increase the height of their breathing zone and provide an opportunity to face them away from the source to consequently reduce exposure |
| Reducing exposure to harmful vehicular pollutants | Schools should notify parents/carers that commuting to/from school via main roads presents a risk of high exposure to vehicular emissions |
| Reducing exposure to harmful vehicular pollutants | Stop school bus idling |
| Energy saving | Use 'half-lighting' in the classroom (only half the lights are turned on) if there is enough natural lighting |
| Energy saving | Turn off monitors, lights and taps when they are not in use |
| Environmental activities | Incorporate environmental activities into your classroom job chart, e.g. turning lights off after everyone's left the room |
| Environmental activities | Every student brings in an unused toy. For every toy, the student gets a ticket which they can exchange for a new 'used' toy |
| Brainstorming | As a class, brainstorm new and innovative ways to make the school more environmentally friendly |
What You'll Learn
Brainstorming ways to make your school more environmentally friendly
There are many ways to make your school more environmentally friendly. Firstly, you could encourage students to walk to school in groups, rather than being driven by their parents. This will reduce the number of cars on the road, and therefore the amount of pollution. You could also discourage school bus idling.
Another way to make your school more environmentally friendly is to use eco-friendly school supplies. For example, you could use notebooks made from recycled paper, wooden pencils instead of plastic ones, and green facial tissues. Art supplies can also be made greener by using acid-free glue sticks and petroleum-free crayons. You could also encourage students to reuse supplies like scrap paper, rather than always grabbing new ones.
You could also switch to using green cleaning products, which are free of harmful chemicals and have very little effect on the environment. You could also get behind a more thorough recycling program, and use this to educate students about the importance of reusing, reducing, and recycling.
If you're considering remodelling or renovating your school, you could use green building materials, which will make your facility more efficient and last longer. You could also make sure that your classrooms are well-insulated and use sustainable materials for repairs and rebuilding.
Finally, you could dedicate a patch of school grounds to growing food and teaching pupils about the importance of where our food comes from. You could also promote healthy eating by going meat-free, even if it's just one day a week. You could also incorporate environmental activities into your classroom job chart, such as turning the lights off after everyone has left the room.
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Reducing traffic-related pollution exposure
Schools are heavily impacted by air pollution when located near large roadways, which has been shown to lead to adverse health effects and decreased cognitive function. To reduce traffic-related pollution exposure, schools can implement strategies such as encouraging students to walk or take the bus to school, rather than being driven individually. Schools can also advocate for proper urban planning and infrastructure construction by relevant authorities, including the planting of tree hedges and installation of pollutant filters, which can effectively reduce traffic-related pollution.
Additionally, schools can educate students on the impact of traffic-related pollution and provide guidelines to reduce their pollution exposure. This can include choosing commuting routes with lower pollution levels and avoiding areas where vehicles are gathered, such as the school gate, to reduce exposure to pollutants.
To further reduce pollution around schools, schools can incorporate environmental activities into the classroom, such as turning off lights when leaving the room, and encourage students to bring unused toys to exchange for "used" toys, promoting a culture of environmental awareness and responsibility.
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Improving indoor air quality
To improve indoor air quality in schools, the first step is to identify and continuously monitor the sources of air pollution. Once these sources have been identified, steps can be taken to reduce the buildup of pollutants and carbon dioxide. This includes regular cleaning and dusting, using doormats to trap dirt and dust, and opening windows to increase ventilation.
It is also important to maintain HVAC systems properly to ensure they are functioning correctly and not introducing pollutants into the air. This can include regular filter changes, cleaning ductwork, and ensuring the system is properly balanced. Air purifiers and air filters can also be used to reduce the concentration of pollutants in the air.
Other ways to improve indoor air quality include removing harmful building materials, using weather stripping, and installing a ventilation system or air sterilisers.
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Reducing waste
Another way to reduce waste is to reuse supplies. Teachers and students can be encouraged to repurpose or reuse school supplies such as binders, folders, and textbooks at the start of each school year. Schools can also implement waste reduction initiatives by forming environmental clubs or "green teams". These groups can raise awareness and develop strategies to reduce waste, such as conducting waste audits to identify the most common types of waste.
Schools can also reduce waste by organising zero-waste events, where the use of single-use items is discouraged or prohibited. Cafeterias can generate a lot of food waste, so it's important to teach students about sustainable cooking and food waste reduction. This includes learning about portion control, proper food storage, and composting food scraps. Schools can also organise upcycling workshops, where students learn how to repurpose old clothes or materials into new, usable items.
To increase participation in waste reduction activities, schools can create reward programs or competitions for students and staff. By adopting comprehensive waste reduction strategies, schools can contribute to the well-being of the environment and inspire students to take ownership of the planet's future.
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Recycling
Schools can generate a lot of waste, so recycling is a great way to reduce pollution and save money. School waste is usually produced in the cafeteria, offices and classrooms. Cafeteria waste is mainly made up of food scraps and food packaging waste.
There are many ways to encourage recycling in schools. One idea is to involve students in the recycling process and give them ownership of the school's recycling efforts. Students can help run the recycling operation, create signs and posters to promote recycling, and check that recycling containers are correctly labelled and only contain recyclable materials. Students can also be encouraged to bring in unused toys and exchange them for tickets to get a 'used' toy.
Another idea is to collect usable items such as pens, pencils, crayons, rulers, binders and unused notebooks at the end of the school year, and then redistribute them at the start of the next school year. Schools can also incorporate the concept of a Zero Waste Lunch into their curricula. Students can sponsor competitions to see which class can produce the least amount of waste from lunches per student.
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Frequently asked questions
There are many ways to save your school from pollution. You could start a club to reduce waste at school, or participate in a community clean-up. You could also ask for help to create a paper and plastic recycling program in your classroom, or ask your teacher to make indoor air quality (IAQ) a priority by implementing an IAQ management program.
You could start a club to reduce waste at school. Monitor what's thrown away each week, and think about ways to cut down on those items. You could also ask your classmates to drink from a refillable water bottle, place their sandwiches in cloth or a reusable container, and use bar soap instead of bottled.
Ask for help to create a paper and plastic recycling program in your classroom. People in the United States recycle only about 35% of their waste, so there's a lot of room for improvement!
Your school can implement an IAQ management program using tools and resources from the EPA’s IAQ Tools for Schools. This will help to develop and sustain an effective and comprehensive program to improve health and decrease student and staff absenteeism.
