Eco-schools scheme help to 'green' schools

It’s not quite the environmental equivalent of the Normandy landings, but it might yet come to pass – if, that is, the children, teachers, NGOs and local authorities whose inspired action is currently transforming schools throughout the UK into models of sustainable best practice and learning are allowed to have their way.

In the past two years, Eco-Schools – developed in 1994 by not-for-profit NGO the Foundation for Environmental Education and administered in Scotland by Keep Scotland Beautiful, in England by ENCAMS, which runs the Keep Britain Tidy campaign, in Wales by Keep Wales Tidy and in Northern Ireland by Tidy Northern Ireland – has seen a massive spike in schools signing up to use its roadmap to sustainability. It offers guidance on a raft of initiatives, funds and laws on nine key themes, ranging from litter and recycling to transport, healthy living, energy and water conservation. From 4,000 schools in 2006, some 11,000 are now enrolled in the scheme, more than half of UK schools.

All over the country, schools are evaluating their carbon emissions, upgrading lighting, water taps and cisterns, changing computers from old cathode ray tubes to energy-efficient flat-screens, and,...

To view the rest of this article - you must be a paying subscriber and Login