We are delighted to share a blog written by Bela Verma, from Pathways School who the mentor for a team of students delivering a Global Goals project for the 2019-20 Global Goals Competition.
Their project is among over 957 social action projects currently running as part of the GSL movement and we are excited to be supporting them to design and lead positive social change in their community.
#Zerowasteclassroom
Project Overview
Our group aims to tackle the issue of Land Pollution by not only spreading awareness but by also taking concrete actions.The Demeter plans to focus on the key areas of waste management, smart agriculture and celebrating life on land. It aims to pro-actively engage people in identifying problems and solutions with domestic waste management. The group is going to take initiative by first identifying problems with waste management through surveys in their local communities. This will be followed by first- hand visits to the several waste management divisions their school to manage e-waste, food waste, plastics and paper waste materials. Through this primary research the students intend to collect information on their project. They will also be taking expert advice and connecting with various organizations in their endeavor to reach out and spread awareness.
Our Journey
The team comprises of young, compassionate visionaries who complement each other’s strengths. Students are gathering data, facts and information from various primary/secondary sources which further help them to take sustainable actions. They are able to make connections with their prior learnings and build on the knowledge they have about the issue. They display organization skills well by maintaining balance between their other schedules. They are critical thinkers who are able to connect the issue of land pollution with various UN SDGs such as Zero Hunger, Life under water, Clean Water & Sanitation etc. Their way of working together demonstrate their interpersonal skills.
The Next Chapter
The Demeter has taken a step to spread awareness about Responsible Consumption. We visited the nearby mall to conduct a survey on consumer habits. We interviewed 10-15 people on their reasons to buy the products. We evaluated that people shop because they like to do that even if they don’t need it. We made a few suggestions to them to improve on their consumer habits and to contribute to the Global Goal for Responsible Consumption as a part of their social responsibility. We believe that we really need to reduce our ecological footprint by changing the way we consume goods and resources.
To have an impact, the action should be measurable and it has to start from our direct environment, i.e. our school. Since most of the school’s pollution is caused by classroom waste, we are Launching this Drive to Reduce, Reuse & Recycle that waste. We will soon open the ZERO WASTE CLASSROOM CHALLENGE for our junior grades. The winner would win special appreciation form the school Principal.
The 2019-20 GSL Global Goals Competition is now open and runs until June 2020. If you belong to one of the 700+ teams of students currently delivering a social action project as part of the competition we would love to hear from you and feature your blog and project photos on our website to inspire others.
