So you want to start your own Green Group at school,
but you're not sure how?
Keep reading to get
some practical advice,
and ideas for 'greening' your school.
Why Start A Green Group?
Because you do make a
difference. Every one of us affects the natural environment. All to often it's a
negative effect like creating waste, using resources or disturbing native wildlife.
But you can make a
positive difference! You can learn, and teach others, how to reduce your impact on the
natural environment.
By starting a green
group you can make positive changes within your school environment.
Starting A New
Group
It might feel like you
are the only one who cares about the environment, but you're wrong. There are heaps of
people, involved in really great projects, helping to care for New Zealand's cool wildlife
and wild places. And you can be one of them!
If you want to start a
green group at school talk to your friends and the people in your class and find out if
they are interested in starting a green group too. When you have found one or two friends
or classmates who want to start a green group it's time to hold a meeting.
You will need to decide on a time
and a place, eg. lunchtime in the library.
You will need to tell everyone in
school you are having your first meeting and that everyone is welcome. To make sure
everyone knows put the meeting time and place in the school notices or send a notice to
each classroom.
Make sure you are on time and
welcome everyone who turns up to the meeting.
Remember to take some paper and a
pen to write down everyone's name and classroom.
First
Meeting
There are some things
you will need to decide at your first meeting:
Group Name
Coordinator(s)
Secretary
Treasurer
Meeting time and place
Group Objectives
Activities you would like to do
within your school
If you don't get everything decided at the first meeting, plan to have another
one a few days or a week later to finish making your initial decisions.
When you have the
initial decisions made, invite your principal and teachers to your group meeting and tell
them about your group and what you hope to achieve. It is a good idea to write down this
information and give a copy to your principal.
Roles/Jobs For Group Members
Decide on roles for
group members. It's important to share the workload. You will need to identify jobs that
need to be done all the time to maintain your group, eg. taking notes at meetings, who is
responsible for the group's money, who will talk to the principal/deputy principal about
initiatives you want to do in school.
You may decide that
roles can be shared, or that you need more roles, eg. Meeting Organiser, Poster Organiser
and Morning Notice Writer.
It's also a good idea
to identify skills within your group, eg. who can draw, who is good at finding information
on the internet and who likes public speaking. This information will come in handy when
you are planning an event because you will know the people in your group who can find more
information about the issue, help make posters and talk to the school.
Meetings
Decide on a day, time and place and
try to stick with it. Meeting at the same time and place makes it easy for people to
remember. You may need to ask permission to use a classroom or part of the library.
Remind everyone about the meeting.
Put a notice in the morning school notices, or send a message around to each of the
classrooms. You may want to ask your teacher, principal or the office staff for advice on
the best way for you to tell the other students about your meeting.
Remember to take pen, paper, green
calendar, diary and the notes from the previous meeting, to each meeting.
Take notes from the meeting to
record who agreed to take on projects, dates for activities, things that needed to be
researched, people to contact. These notes will help remind you what needs to be done and
what has been forgotten!
Try to keep your meetings short and
focused. Have an agenda - a list of things that need to be discussed, and what decisions
need to be made.
Group Objectives
Write down your
objectives. What do you hope to achieve by having a student green group? You may want to
write down your objectives like I have below.....
The Green Group
Objectives are:
*To improve group members' knowledge of environment and conservation issues
*To educate students and teachers at school about environment and conservation issues
*To reduce the impact students and teachers have on the environment in our school and
community
*To help protect and restore native plant and animal communities in our area.
Some
Project Ideas
Tree planting
Celebrating/recognising local,
regional, national and international events, eg. Seaweek, Conservation Week and Earth Day.
School environment improvement, eg.
seating areas under trees, 'green theme' murals.
Start a school composting system
Displays. Educate students and share
an environmental message by putting up displays in your school library, hall or reception
area. Your display could focus on a project your group is involved in, like planting trees
at school, or you could focus on an event like World Habitat Day.
Posters. You could run a poster
competition to encourage everyone at school to think about the environment, and ask a
local business to provide a prize. A poster competition would work well to publicise an
event like Arbor Day.
Handy hints. Does your school send
home a school newsletter? Ask permission to use your school newsletter to tell students,
teachers and parents what they can do to reduce their impact on the natural environment.
Morning notices. If your school has
morning notices you could ask your principal for permission to put a 'green message' in
the school notices every week. You will have to make sure you have the green ideas ready
in time. Green messages could include: remember to turn lights off when you leave the
room, report dripping taps to save water and electricity, remember to use both sides of
writing paper.
Join a community group project. Find
out about the environment and conservation groups in your area and if they are holding an
event, publicise it at school and join them. It's a good way to learn about areas around
your school and they might be able to help you with a school project.
Develop a 'Rainforest/native timber
free' policy for your school.
Some
Fundraising Ideas
If you are planning an
activity, environmental initiative or event, it's quite likely your group is going to need
some money. So how do you get it?
Some of the things your group may
want to do will improve your school environment, eg. planting trees. Ask your principal if
there is money in the school budget to pay for the trees.
You may decide that each member of
the group should pay $5 to belong to help pay for things.
If you have a specific topic you
want to do, ask the students and teachers for donations.
You could hold a 'green mufti day'
at school and ask everyone to wear something green and bring $1.
Students could do some artwork with
an environmental theme, which could be sold at school or at a local shopping centre. This
way your group can make some money and share your knowledge about the world around you
with others.
Handy Hints
Don't take on projects that are too
big. It's a good idea to start with something small.
Identify significant 'green' dates
during the year, eg. Arbor Day and Earth Day.
You may want to
draw up a "Green Calendar" to take to every meeting
and you could make a poster copy to put up in the library and
school reception so everyone knows about the environment and
conservation events coming up. (There is an event page on this
website... events)
Try to choose projects that the
whole group can be involved in.
Don't spend too much time raising
money.
Invite teachers to your meetings for
their support and ideas. They may be able to help you find information and let you into
the office when you need to use office equipment, eg. photocopier and phone. Teachers may
also be able to help with your projects, eg. the art teacher could help with a mural
design and the science teacher may know about what type of trees you should plant.
A Message from the Education Officer at Forest and Bird...
During high school and
university I coordinated green groups with friends. It was great fun and very satisfying,
although at times projects did demand a lot, so I had to be rather organised to fit
everything in. Projects didn't always work out quite as planned, but it was important to
look at what we had achieved and not at what we hadn't.
At times it will feel
like you are putting a lot of hard work in for nothing - but IT IS NOT for nothing! As
kiwis we are lucky to be living in such a beautiful country - it's worth protecting. Your
efforts will focus mainly on New Zealand issues, but mother earth does not recognise
country boundaries like people do – our planet is one living organism and we must
care for her wherever we live.
Good luck with your projects, and remember to ask for help, don't try to do
everything by yourself!
Carol Knutson
Share Your Ideas, Projects, Comments and Questions
If your green group
has any ideas, projects or comments that might help other green groups please email them
to Forest and Bird so they can be added to this site.
If you have any
questions or need information, email Forest and Bird and the staff will do their best to
help you.
The Kiwi Conservation Club is a Forest & Bird project for children.
İRoyal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand Inc 2008. All
rights reserved.
