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Recycling paper and cans, switching off lights and plugs, reducing water consumption and going out on “green” field trips were some of the basic moves that put 24 government and private schools across Abu Dhabi on top of the ‘Sustainable Schools’ list.
The 24 winning schools were part of this year’s Sustainable Schools Initiative (SSI), run by the Environment Agency — Abu Dhabi (EAD) annually since 2009, in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec).
“The Sustainable Schools Initiative personifies dreams of our younger generation to inherit a sustainable future for our planet,” said Fozeya Ibrahim Mahmoud, the EAD’s Director of Environmental Outreach Division.
NUMBERS AND STATS
GREEN WITH PRIDE
> 55% schools compost organic waste
> 82% schools recycle paper, plastic and metal waste
> 60% schools reuse or recycle waste water
> 15% schools have initiated the use of renewable energy
> 73% of students in SSI schools use shared transport
> 79% school have started growing native plants
> 94% schools have reduced water use
For this session of the SSI, 120 schools registered for the five categories of the competition — most sustainable school, best green audit, most proactive school in community outreach, most effective environmental educators and most proactive school in outdoors field education. Winners for each category were chosen separately.
Altogether, about 31,555 students from 120 participating schools were given outdoor field education through 302 field trips, while 418 teachers were given training by the EAD on green audit, eco-clubs and effective educational approaches for imparting environmental concepts in classrooms.
About 55 per cent of the registered schools compost their organic waste; 82 per cent recycle paper, plastic and even metal waste; 60 per cent reuse or recycle waste water; 15 per cent have initiated the use of renewable energy; and 73 per cent of all students in SSI schools use shared transport.
Furthermore, 79 per cent of schools have started growing native plants for enhancing the green area in their schools and 94 per cent have reduced their water use to varying degree.
“Education is one of the most powerful transformative tools in our transition towards sustainable development,” said Mahesh Pradhan, head of Education and Training Unit at the United Nations for Environment Programme in Nairobi, a guest at the SSI ceremony. “The SSI provides an innovative model for education for sustainable development, with potential for up-scaling and replication to other regions or countries.”
In the past academic year, all SSI registered schools were supported by the EAD with workshops and booklets on sustainability practices. They all managed to implement 151 green projects, which reached out to the wider community.
Compared to the 2013-14 SSI session, this year witnessed an increase in the percentage of students sharing transport in SSI schools.
Also, water use reduced from 31 litres per capita per day in 2013-14 to 26.3 litres per capita per day in 2014-15 session. -reporters@khaleejtimes.com
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