Taking up the challenge to go green starts with something as simple as picking up after yourself.
This has been the philosophy of the Ikaneng School in Diepsloot, Soweto, and the learners’ simple actions have snowballed into a solid commitment to make their school a shining example of environmental awareness.
The school has incorporated a number of greening efforts into their daily operations on the premises and also use these as practical educational examples. Learners are also encouraged to be active paper recyclers. With these efforts teachers have noted that there is a marked change in attitudes among the children who now realise they are responsible for looking after the planet.
World Day for the Environment is celebrated each year in June. This day is used to highlight the fragility of the Earth’s natural equilibrium and humankind’s responsibility to respect life on our planet.
Florah Leseli, principal of Ikaneng, says they’ve been involved with green projects for the past four years. But it was getting involved and ultimately winning the Bontle Ke Botho (which means Beauty is Human) competition held by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and the Department of Education last year that confirmed they had been on the right path all along.
‘We made a number of changes. We put in French drains that collect waste water from the toilet basins and divert the water to our gardens,” says Leseli.
Together with the Eduplant project co-ordinators, the 907 learners at Ikaneng have also created food gardens. Ikaneng caters for learners between Grade 0 and Grade 8 and each class is responsible for their own veggie gardens. Their harvests are used for feeding schemes in the community and fund-raising. This, Leseli says, is a clear way to illustrate sustainable agriculture to the children.
‘We also try to plant as many trees as possible. This year alone we planted about 10 trees and a group of boys are responsible for looking after these trees. They’ve even given these trees names,” says Leseli.
The trees will eventually grow big enough to be a source of shade and their root systems have already minimised soil erosion on the property. The children have also created an outdoor classroom by restoring old benches. ‘On really hot days some teachers can teach their classes outside right in the middle of the gardens and that’s where the children can really learn about the environment,” Leseli says.
Leseli is clearly proud of the environmental achievements of the school. Ikaneng School often hosts pupils from other schools around the country who come to see for themselves the difference one school can make.
‘The schools come from everywhere, such as from the Limpopo Province and the Eastern Cape, to see what we’re doing. I am proud of our learners because you don’t have to tell them to pick up papers and to keep their environment clean – they know these things,” she smiles.
But a major thrust of the environmental awareness projects at the school is for the children to take the lessons they’ve learned back to their communities.
‘We are part of a project called The Valued Citizen programme so children know that part of being a good citizen means they should also keep their townships and locations clean and they need to pick up rubbish in the streets and around their homes. Cleanliness is also part of environmental awareness,” say Leseli.
This year the school hopes to get involved with projects such as the Water Wise campaign which will see them planting more indigenous trees. They also plan to improve their irrigation systems to maximise their crop yields and save water.