Nektarina

(S)pace helping create

sustainable

future

ISSN 1847-6694

SEPTEMBER 2012

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Falling into the Fall

Dear Friends,

September is in full swing, and as we are looking forward to

the colorful Fall weather and the great outdoors, we are also

taking some extra time to prepare this newsletter for you.

Every month we will do our best to share interesting, educa-

tional and relevant content — news, stories and practices with

you, while focusing on our project Education for Sustainabil-

ity, a project we started a year ago.

We titled the Newsletter “Nektarina (S)pace”, and the brackets

there are on purpose— this publication is both a space and a

pace (a step). This publication is mainly a volunteer project,

so please bear with us, as neither of us has professional expe-

rience in doing this kind of a thing. We do hope that with each

new edition we’ll improve both content and design as we gain

experience.

This first issue brings you Positive Practices from New Zea-

land. In every issue we will share positive practices (in terms

of Sustainability and Education) from different countries and

regions. In this issue we are bringing you some basic infor-

mation about our project Education for Sustainability, and

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we also invite you to visit our website

www.education4sustainability.org

Every Newsletter issue has a schools’ section as well, with

plenty of ideas and things to do.

Nektarina (S)pace is available both on our website and our

Issuu page, it is free for download and you can share it

amongst yourselves, forward it to friends, colleagues and

family or distribute it in your schools.

Do join us on social networks as well:

Facebook page www.facebook.com/nektarinanonprofit

Twitter www.twitter.com/nektarina

Google +

https://plus.google.com/u/0/114047738897251089132/posts

We hope you’ll enjoy reading this newsletter as much as we en-

joyed putting it together!

Have fun, learn something, connect with us!

Yours truly,

The Nektarina Team

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Chocolate Lake

Nova Scotia

Canada

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Nektarina

(S)pace

Web Publication issued monthly by Nektarina Non Profit

Issue # 1

September 2012

Published by Nektarina Non Profit

Contributors:

Elena Livia Minca

Yula Pannadopoulos

Nikos Sorrensen

All photographs (except images used in the New Zealand) by

Sandra Antonovic

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Park Maksimir

Zagreb, Croatia /detail/

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In this

issue

What are we all about

Introducing Education for Sustainability Project

Positive practices:

New Zealand

Dear Schools

and more...

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THE EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABILITY PROJECT

Education 4 Sustainability is a project aiming at integrating

the topic of “sustainability” in the curriculum of every school

at pre-university level in the 30+ countries that are part of

the Nektarina Non Profit network. The initiative brings togeth-

er communities and individuals, governments, organizations,

businesses and the educational community itself to ensure chil-

dren have the skills to become citizens of a sustainable world.

Project Background

People and the planet Earth have been interconnected throughout

all stages of human development. Sadly, most of the time, peo-

ple focused only on their own development, advancement and well

being, treating the nature solely as a resource, and not as a

natural partner. As a consequence, today we find ourselves at a

point where our planet has been severely damaged. It is becom-

ing clear that if we are to have any chance of preserving this

planet for the future generations, we need to focus our time,

effort and resources in educating people - children and youth

in particular - on sustainable development, sustainable living

and sustainable future.

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General focus

The project Education for Sustainability aims at introducing

Sustainable Development (and/or any similar subject, that may

have a different name, but focuses on sustainable living, prac-

tices and futures) in schools curricula in countries and re-

gions where that is not yet the case. The project targets Min-

istries and Departments of Education, Schools’ Councils and

Boards – the decision makers when it comes to “official” educa-

tion. Moreover, we are also addressing local communities, par-

ents’ groups and general population.

Timeline

The preparatory phase for the project started in September 2011

and was completed in May 2012. During this phase an extensive

research was done on environmental issues in each country, on

its educational system, legislative framework and decision mak-

ing process. Since September 2012 the project has gone live. We

are working with local experts, agencies of environment, civil

society organizations, schools and volunteers on understanding

the local circumstances and on compiling, presenting and shar-

ing data, research and facts that will help us explain and ad-

vocate the purpose of the project. For more information regard-

ing the project please visit www.education4sustainability.org.

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E4S in different countries Each country, through the partner organization, should define its

own set of measures and actions that are deemed necessary for

reaching the project goal, which is obtaining commitment form na-

tional authorities that sustainability/sustainable development

will be addressed in all its complexity as a separate discipline,

either compulsory or elective, in public pre-university level

schools. The actions should take into consideration the various

local factors and current educational situation: is there already

such a subject or similar one in place, are there any initiatives

already started that might have a similar goal, what is the gen-

eral attitude of authorities towards the subject, what is the

procedure of introducing a new subject, how would such an initia-

tive be received by schools and general public, etc.

In general, the actions defined by the partner organization

should fall in one of the following categories, based on the en-

tity to be addressed:

→ Contacting schools in the country from various locations and

backgrounds in order to collect their views on the suitability of

the initiative for them, find out their main concerns and try to

build a support network that can be used in the negotiations with

official bodies;

→ Contacting local experts in education that can offer an in-

formed opinion on the best ways to proceed and format most suita-

ble for the country;

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→ Contacting ministries and other official bodies that act as

decision-makers in the process in order to make the proposal

and carry out negotiations;

→ Contacting local media in order to increase the public expo-

sure of the project and build a support pool.

The country partner will have the obligation of sending monthly

reports with the activities that have been performed, the activi-

ties that are envisioned for the following month and what support

they require from Nektarina Non Profit. A spending log will have

to be included as well. Additionally, bi-weekly calls with the

partner organization will be arranged in order to keep an accu-

rate tracking of steps and address possible challenges. Apart

from this, the partner organization can and should inform

Nektarina Non Profit by e-mail or phone of any other issues that

may appear in the normal flow of events, should they consider

this is the case.

Nektarina Non Profit will support the partner organization in the

following ways:

→ Based on an initial budget required by the country partner,

Nektarina will seek appropriate sponsors that are willing to cov-

er this budget. Once the full sum is agreed on by both parties

and secured, Nektarina will distribute the amount to the country

partner, as agreed in the contract signed;

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→ Nektarina will offer logistic support to the country

partner in terms of project materials. Any piece

found in the Wiki section of the project website can

be used by the country partner;

→ The project website will be constantly updated with

relevant information about the actions taking place

in all countries. Information about the country

partner and/or logo can be displayed on both the

project and the Nektarina website;

→ The project website will slowly be transformed into a

web platform where all interested parties from the

project countries will be able to contribute their

experiences and good practice;

→ Apart from the exposure in local media that will be

provided by the country partner, Nektarina will also

advertise the project in all relevant media, includ-

ing social networks, blogs, newspapers, radio, etc;

→ Depending on the circumstances, Nektarina may organ-

ize events/workshops to present the activities car-

ried out in different countries in order to draw at-

tention on the project and present positive results/

examples;

→ If the need may be, Nektarina will take place and of-

fer support in the meetings arranged by the country

partner with relevant bodies and authorities;

→ Nektarina will collect and manage all the reports

sent by the country partner in the required formats.

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Background on Nektarina Non Profit

Nektarina Non Profit is an international non-profit organi-

zation dedicated to educating, connecting and inspiring

people to care about their communities and their environ-

ment. It was founded in 2009 in Zagreb, Croatia, with one

broad idea in mind - highlighting issues that affect us all

globally, by raising awareness and inspiring action but,

most importantly, by educating people on these issues.

Our approach is highly local, and we consider cultural, re-

ligious, ethnic and any other diversity when carrying out

our campaigns. Our activities target general population,

but we tend to give stronger focus to younger demographics.

We are active in 30+ countries from Europe and Central

Asia.

Nektarina Non Profit uses on-the-field events like work-

shops, conferences, forums, debates, film screenings, in-

door and outdoor classes, concerts and fairs to reach its

target groups. Peer-to-peer education is one of the most

important methods we use in our work. Direct share of prac-

tices, case studies, knowledge and experience proved to be

the most effective and inspiring way to educate and connect

people. With the staff of only four people, Nektarina Non

Profit relies a great deal on the network of volunteers and

we work closely with official volunteer centres in the

countries we are active in.

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Positive

Example

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The Enviroschools

Programme

in New Zealand

Enviroschools is a national programme that aims to create

a whole-school approach to environmental education, through

which schools are supported to become more sustainable and are

rewarded when they reach a level of achievement.

The Programme is a joint local–central government initia-

tive focusing on community partnerships, sustainable school

practices and student leadership/engagement. It focuses on

learning communities that draw on — and develop — the leader-

ship of students and community members. It also draws on edu-

cational knowledge from the community sector, including Māori

knowledge.

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The Enviroschools Programme began in Hamilton in the late

1990s as a local government initiative and now involves ap-

proximately 20% of all New Zealand schools (there are current-

ly 587 Enviroschools nationally).

The Programme is being implemented in Early Childhood,

Kura, Primary, Intermediate and Secondary school settings. It

delivers Education for Sustainability (EfS) support in schools

through a local and regional structure funded by local govern-

ment, and a national office funded currently by the Ministry

of Education.

The Enviroschools Programme is implemented regionally,

along regional council boundaries and is supported by a net-

work of people working for a range of different organisations.

Regional partners contribute by providing funding, skilled

people, ideas and networking opportunities. Assistance differs

from region to region depending on the number and type of or-

ganisations involved. Each enviroschool has a Facilitator who

guides and supports the journey. A region will usually have

a number of people working as facilitators and a Regional Co-

ordinator who ensures collaboration, networking and support

between all agencies involved in the Enviroschools Programme.

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The five Guiding Principles of the programme

Enviroschools is based on five guiding principles.

Schools are encouraged to integrate these five principles in

all the learning and action they undertake.

Empowered Students are enabled to participate in a meaning-

ful way in the life of their schools and community, their

unique perspectives are valued for the knowledge and in-

sight that they bring, and they are supported to take ac-

tion for real change.

The principle of Learning for Sustainability recognises the

types of teaching and learning that foster student empower-

ment, decision-making, action and sustainable outcomes.

The principle of Māori Perspectives honours the status of

tangata whenua in this land and the value of indigenous

knowledge in enriching and guiding learning and action.

Respect for the Diversity of People and Cultures acknowl-

edges the unique gifts, contributions and perspectives of

individuals and groups, reinforcing the need for participa-

tory decision-making in Enviroschools.

Sustainable Communities act in ways that nurture people and

nature, now and in the future, to maintain the health and

viability of our environment, society, culture and economy.

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The four key areas that make up a Whole School Approach

Within schools there is a strong focus on what students

learn through the formal curriculum. This includes gaining

skills, knowledge and competencies in subject areas through

formal curriculum projects.

Students also learn through knowledge and experience that

they gain from other aspects of school life, such as what the

school grounds feel like, how the buildings are built and what

people do. This is sometimes referred to as the hidden curric-

ulum. A whole school approach aims to make visible what is

currently hidden and enable all aspects of school life to be

threads that strengthen the learning experience of students.

The whole-school approach incorporates four key areas of

school life that have an effect on sustainability and student

learning.

Place: Where the school buildings and grounds are designed

to work with natural systems, and reflect the culture and

heritage of the place. The school becomes a site for hands

-on student action and learning, which integrates the aca-

demic, creative and practical aspects of learning.

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· People & Participation: Decisions and actions are made with

the involvement of students, staff and other members of the

community. There is a sense of belonging and ownership as

schools draw on the combined wisdom of their multi-cultural

community.

· Practices: School policies and systems support environmen-

tally friendly and sustainable practices, which are monitored

and evaluated, to document progress being made towards sus-

tainability.

· Programmes: Students take action on real issues in the

school and wider environment, and they learn as they create a

sustainable school and community. Sustainability is a core

part of the formal curriculum and students research, design

and implement sustainable projects, and draw on role models

and experts in the school and community. Students share their

learning and become mentors and leaders for younger students,

and for other schools and groups in the community.

The Enviroschools process (main elements schools undertake)

Every school in New Zealand is different, so the enviroschools

process is different in every school. However there are some

key processes that all schools undertake – such as creating a

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whole school vision, forming an envirogoup, working with the

community, implementing action projects and reflecting on and

monitoring the changes.

Each enviroschool works with a trained facilitator who

guides and motivates schools along their journey, and helps to

create valuable links with complementary programmes, relevant

experts and other schools. The process is not a checklist and

should not be seen as linear. Experience has shown that the

components of the process overlap, are revisited, modified and

further developed over time. So while there are key Envi-

roschools values and concepts, there is no fixed formula for

being an enviroschool. Schools are encouraged to work at their

own pace – becoming a sustainable school is an ongoing process

that develops and deepens over time

The Action Learning Cycle is the main Enviroschools tool

used to help plan and carry out student-led projects. It ena-

bles young people to be empowered to investigate, explore ide-

as, make decisions, take action and reflect on the changes

they have created. Also, sharing knowledge is an essential

part of the Enviroschools process. Local, regional and nation-

al Enviroschools events provide opportunities for all partici-

pants to learn from each other. Events are also a great way to

link schools and centres with the diverse range of expertise

in the wider community on sustainability topics.

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Dear Schools, We hope you enjoyed the summer holiday

and that you recharged your batteries

for a new year of learning and great

experiences.

Just as last year, we will be again be-

side you, with fun facts and interest-

ing information.

The Newsletter you were used to is now

going to be a part of a wider monthly

Newsletter, called Nektarina Space,

where we will also keep everyone up to

date with our other projects.

We wish you a wonderful new school year

and hope you will continue to read and

participate with ideas and opinions to

our newsletter.

Have a great year, everyone! The Nektarina Team

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Visit the botanical garden in your town A visit outdoors, in the nature, is sometimes the best way to

relax and remedy the daily routine. Travelling to the country-

side or abroad in search of new nature corner to explore can be

time consuming, as well as costly. For people living in the ever

-growing urban environments reaching a green oasis every now and

then is becoming somewhat of a challenge.

Luckily, an alternative exists, that brings together the joy of

discovering habitats from various parts of the world and the

recreation of a walk in the nature. Botanical gardens and parks

combine both features so, if you haven’t already, start planning

a visit there soon. If you don’t have one in your town, look for

the nearest one and organize a trip there with your class. It

will be a whole lot of fun.

To help you out with your tour, we put together a few sugges-

tions you can check out, depending on the facilities offered by

the botanical garden you will visit.

The greenhouses Here you will find special plants and habitats that naturally

grow in places with different climatic conditions than the ones

in your region. In order to survive they require different pa-

rameters, such as temperature, humidity and soil type.

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During the visit observe the particularities of plants in a

certain habitat in connection with the above mentioned condi-

tions. For example, most varieties of cactus have waxy leaves,

in order to prevent water loss, and spikes, so that predators

won’t eat their water-carrying stem. Can you find other con-

nections? What part of the greenhouses did you enjoy the best?

Don’t hesitate to write as at mail@nektarinanonprofit.com

The vegetables garden Most botanical gardens include a section of common vegetables

and fruits. You should be able to recognize most of them, alt-

hough several regional and local varieties may be available.

Given that it is harvest time, many of them should be ready

for pick up (some even have already past that period and tran-

sitioned to the new vegetative state). Have a go at naming all

the available plants and their main uses.

Some plants, such as cabbage, onion or parsley, complete their

biological cycles (are able to create seeds) in two years –

also called biennial plants, thus they look different depend-

ing on the year they are in. Do you know how to spot the simi-

larities and differences? Discuss this with your teacher and

colleagues.

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Public Gardens

Halifax, Nova Scotia

Canada

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Any seasonal exhibitions?

Botanical gardens often host seasonal exhibits that relate to

their field of activity. They can range from butterfly pavilions

to insect or reptile exhibits. If this is the case in your botan-

ical garden then you should definitely book a ticket. This may

not only enhance your experience, but it will give you a more

complete picture of the habitats that you’ve just seen. So why

not try it out?

Why does nature change in the fall?

Autumn is indeed the season of changes, many of which you can di-

rectly see and feel in your surrounding environment. But why do

all these changes occur at this precise time of the year? To an-

swer this question we will need to take it one step at the time.

In the beginning, however, it is only fair to mention that the

above mentioned changes vary greatly depending on the location in

the world. The 4-seasons year only includes temperate and sub-

polar regions. Hot tropical and subtropical regions generally

have only two or three seasons (rainy, dry and sometimes also a

mild or cool season). But for now we will only focus on the tem-

perate climate, where autumn is the third season of the calendar

year.

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Leaves’ colour and falling

During the summer and, implicitly, the vegetation season, the

leaves of deciduous trees have green colour due to a substance

called chlorophyll, which transforms solar energy in food for the

plant. As the day gets shorter and temperature drops in autumn,

the chlorophyll amount in the leaves decreases and so does their

green colour. The other pigments present in the leaves, ranging

from yellow to red and brown, which were hidden by the green,

start now to be visible.

Observe the trees in your garden and throughout your community.

How long does it take for the colours to change? Is it a sudden

or a smooth transition?

As the tree is preparing for the winter months, its leaves are

gradually falling. This is because in winter trees get very lit-

tle water through the roots and they need to conserve it in or-

der to stay alive. By losing their leaves, trees reduce the

amount of water that would evaporate. This is not the case with

the evergreens, whose narrow, waxy needles don’t lose as much

water as deciduous leaves.

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Plants offer their precious gifts

Autumn is also the season of harvest. As many of the plants enter

the last vegetative stage before the winter, they produce seeds-

bearing fruits or various nutrient-carrying roots or stems that

will ensure their transition to a new year once the winter has

passed. A large variety of fruits and vegetables is available to

be harvested and stored. What is your favourite?

Animals and birds prepare for winter

Just as we do, animals too store up food before winter comes. Be-

sides collecting nuts, seeds or acorns, they also eat as much as

they can in order to accumulate body fat reserves that will be

consumed in winter, when very little food is available.

The cool fall and winter months determine insects to become slug-

gish and hide in tree cracks or attics to await the springtime.

Some of them even die before winter and a new generation will

emerge only from the eggs they have managed to lay so far. The

scarcity of food is the main factor for bird migration in winter

as well, although some birds have found ways to adapt, especially

in the human dominated environments. You can actually help out re-

maining birds to survive the winter by installing bird feeders in

the trees in your home or school gardens.

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Daylight time

It takes one year for our planet to cover a full rotation on its

orbit around the sun. During this time its position, as well as

its exposure to the sun change, making seasonal variations possi-

ble. At the same time, the Earth is spinning around its own axis,

thus exposing one side or the other to the sun and so determining

the day and night time.

For most of the year, day and night have different lengths, pre-

cisely because the sunlight falls more in one hemisphere than in

the other, depending on the season. When autumn comes the differ-

ence of sunlight in the two hemispheres is reduced, so that on the

23rd of September the sun casts the same amount of light on both of

them and the daytime is equal to the night time. This moment is

called the autumn equinox. After this date, the Northern Hemi-

sphere is being lit less than the Southern one, making the nights

to gradually become longer than the days.

Discuss at class about the changes that occur in both hemispheres

during the year in terms of daylight and seasons. Use the picture

below for help.

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Weather

The shorter exposure to sunlight incurs a steady drop in tempera-

tures. The precipitations, more abundant, transition from rain to

snow. The lower evaporation rates enable the soil to accumulate

water, in preparation for the vegetation boost in the spring. Can

you already feel a change in weather compared to summer time? Do

you think climate change can influence this transition? Discuss

with your teacher and colleagues.

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What is water footprint?

People use lots of water for their daily activities, such as

drinking, cooking and washing, but even more for producing things

such as food, paper, cotton clothes, etc. The water footprint is

an indicator of water use that looks at both direct and indirect

water use of a consumer or producer.

The water footprint concept was introduced in 2002. The concept

was refined and accounting methods were established with a series

of publications from two lead authors: A.K. Chapagain and A.Y.

Hoekstra from the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education. Coop-

eration between global leading institutions in the field has led

to the establishment of the Water Footprint Network in 2008 that

aims to coordinate efforts to further develop and disseminate

knowledge on water footprint concepts, methods and tools.

The water footprint of an individual, community or business is de-

fined as the total volume of freshwater used to produce the goods

and services consumed by the individual or community or produced

by the business. Water use is measured in terms of water volumes

consumed (evaporated or incorporated into a product) and/or pol-

luted per unit of time. A water footprint can be calculated for a

particular product, for any well-defined group of consumers (for

example, an individual, family, village, city, province, state or

nation) or producers (for example, a public organization, private

enterprise or economic sector). The water footprint is a geograph-

ically explicit indicator, showing not only volumes of water use

and pollution, but also the locations.

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A water footprint consists of three components: blue, green, and

grey.

The blue water footprint is the volume of freshwater that evapo-

rated from the global blue water resources (surface water and

ground water) to produce the goods and services consumed by the

individual or community.

The green water footprint is the volume of water evaporated from

the global green water resources (rainwater stored in the soil as

soil moisture).

The grey water footprint is the volume of polluted water that as-

sociates with the production of all goods and services for the in-

dividual or community. The latter can be estimated as the volume

of water that is required to dilute pollutants to such an extent

that the quality of the water remains at or above agreed water

quality standards.

The water footprint of humanity has exceeded sustainable levels at

several places and is unequally distributed among people. There

are many spots in the world where serious water depletion or pol-

lution takes place: rivers running dry, dropping lake and ground-

water levels and endangered species because of contaminated water.

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As a consumer, you can reduce your “direct water footprint” (home

water use) by installing water saving toilets, applying a water-

saving showerhead, closing the tap during teeth brushing, using

less water in the garden and by not disposing medicines, paints

or other pollutants through the sink. Your “indirect water foot-

print” – the water consumption and pollution behind all the goods

you buy – is much larger than your direct water footprint at

home. You have basically two options to reduce your indirect wa-

ter footprint. One is to substitute a consumer product that has a

large water footprint by a different type of product that has a

smaller footprint. Examples: eat less meat or become vegetarian,

drink tea instead of coffee, or even better drink plain water.

Also replacing cotton clothes by clothes from artificial fibre

saves a lot of water.

But this approach has limitations, because you may find it diffi-

cult to drastically change your consumption pattern. What still

remains, however: you can select the cotton, beef or coffee that

has a relatively low water footprint or that has its footprint in

an area that doesn’t have high water scarcity. This requires that

retailers provide you with proper information to make such choic-

es. In this respect, ask product transparency from businesses and

regulation from governments.

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Some facts and figures

→ The production of one kilogram of beef requires 15 thousand

litres of water (93% green, 4% blue, 3% grey water foot-

print). There is a huge variation around this global average.

The precise footprint of a piece of beef depends on factors

such as the type of production system and the composition and

origin of the feed of the cow;

→ The water footprint of a 150-gram soy burger produced in the

Netherlands is about 160 litres. A beef burger from the same

country costs about 1000 litres;

→ The global water footprint in the period 1996-2005 was 9087

Gm3/yr (74% green, 11% blue, 15% grey). Agricultural produc-

tion contributes 92% to this total footprint;

→ Water scarcity affects over 2.7 billion people for at least

one month each year.

Discuss with your colleagues and teachers about the water foot-

print and try to calculate your own footprint. Several websites

are available for this, for example: www.waterfootprint.org/?

page=cal/WaterFootprintCalculator. What do you think are the

best ways to reduce the individual footprint? What about the one

of businesses? Send us your thoughts at

mail@nektarinanonprofit.com

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Preserving resources in your school and at home

With the ever-increasing consumption worldwide,

much of which unnecessary, the planet’s re-

sources are being depleted at an alarming rate.

Still, there are things that each of us is not

only capable of, but should actually put in

practice. Nowadays we hear more and more about

recycling possibilities and, although it has

obvious advantages, it is still in the early

phases, especially in less developed countries.

Altogether, recycling most of the waste fluxes

created by mankind is a demanding process,

which entails setting up special infrastructure

and transportation. Moreover, for these things

to be in place and work efficiently local and

national authorities need to get involved.

So our advice is: recycle all that you can, as

often and as best as you can. But first of all

reduce and reuse as much as possible. This way

the amount of waste that needs to be recycled

will be reduced as well, same as the one that

has to go to landfill. Below we give you some

suggestions, for your school and your home.

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Paper

→ Print only when necessary and, if possible, double sided. Use

any faulty prints as scrap paper for notes, messages, etc.

When the sheet is full shred it and use it as packaging mate-

rial;

→ At school, use all the pages in your notebook and don’t dis-

card it until it is full;

→ If you have books that you no longer use, try to give them

away to colleagues that will need them, or to the school li-

brary, instead of throwing them away;

→ Take envelopes which are sent by businesses (in the hope that

you will return them), place a label over the pre-printed ad-

dress, write in a new address, and send it;

→ Use old envelopes for writing notes to family members (don't

recycle until it is completely filled), for storing receipts

or for writing grocery lists;

→ Use old greeting cards as bookmarks or make them into a new

ornament;

→ Wad old newspapers up and use them as packing material or to

cover text books;

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→ Recycle all paper that cannot be reused. If an option is

available, separate carton from regular paper. If not yet

implemented, ask your teacher about the possibility to have

recycle bins at least for paper in your school.

Plastic

→ Don’t take too many plastic bags at the supermarket, even if

they are for free (for example, if you are only buying one

pineapple, don’t wrap it in a bag, stick the price tag di-

rectly on it). For carrying groceries home, use a textile or

tote bag;

→ Use plastic bags from groceries as a lunch bag, to line

smaller garbage cans in your home, to discard your scoopable

cat litter clumps (or take with you when you walk your dog

to scoop your dog's poop) or use in your car as a travel

garbage bag;

→ Depending on the size, various food plastic containers can

be reused in many ways: as flower pots in your classroom

(punch holes in the bottom if necessary and put the lid un-

derneath to catch excess water), for salt, pepper or spices,

for storage of small pieces of food in the fridge, as food

dish for pets, etc;

→ Don’t forget to clean and then recycle all the plastic cate-

gories that you are able to.

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Glass

→ Use old wine or beer bottles as a candle holders – the wax

dripping down the sides will create a nice effect, or use them

as a vase and decorate it as you like;

→ Small jars can be reused for storage of nuts, seeds, bolts,

etc. Alternatively you can keep them on the desk for storing

paper clips or rubber bands. You can also insert a wick and

fill with wax to make your own candle;

→ Large jars can help you in storing extra spaghetti sauce which

comes from a can, storing homemade soups or even cookies in

the freezer. They will be protected from breakage and easily

visible. You could also can your own tomatoes and other vege-

tables;

→ When recycling, separate the glass according to its colour.

Aluminium and other metals

→ After use wash aluminium foil if necessary, flatten, and re-

use at a later time

→ Metal cans can be used as a pen and pencil holder, for pot-

ting plants indoors or as a scoop for pet food. Cut to make

them shorter and use as a scoop for sugar, flour or pasta;

→ Always recycle metal and especially aluminium cans, as this

saves 95% of the energy used to make aluminium cans from

virgin ore.

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Electronics and batteries

→ When buying a new computer or electronic device, try to give

your old one to charity instead of disposing of it, so that

other people can benefit from it as well. Bring this issue up

with your class and teachers if the school is planning to re-

new its IT labs;

→ Batteries can release toxic substances when thrown in the

landfill with the rest of the trash. Try to find a recycling

centre near you and, better yet, use rechargeable ones to re-

duce the amount of batteries used.

These are only a handful of examples of things that could be done

to keep our planet cleaner. What are your ideas for reducing and

reusing? Do you have recycling options in your school and at

home? Send us your comments at mail@nektarinanonprofit.com

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biennial_plant

http://family-friend.blogspot.fi/2006/11/what-happens-in-autumn.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Season

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_footprint

http://www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/home

http://www.recycling-revolution.com/reuse-trash-ideas.html

http://www.cancentral.com/funfacts.cfm

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