Launch the campaign.
There are two elements to this:
4A - Dialogue:
Present the carbon audit results, your carbon reduction target and your campaign objectives to school/college decision makers. If the campaign objectives include asking the school/college to do something, present these demands. If you’ve collected lots of action cards or a petition from the students, present that at the same time.
4B - Action:
Swansea P&P ready for Go Green action
Do a public launch of the campaign. Hold an event, set up a display to inform other students, have a party, anything to let people know what you’re up to and hopefully get their support.
The key to winning this campaign is to show the Principal that there is a lot of pressure on him or her to make the school/college Go Green. To do this you need to build support for your campaign.
The key to building support for your campaign is to make sure as many as people as possible know what you’re doing and feel part of it. Here are a few ideas for things you could do to raise awareness for your campaign and build support:
Make Go Green fliers.
Put your school/college’s carbon footprint on these and information about what you’re doing and how people can get involved. Spread them around, stick them under the windscreen wipers of people’s cars, put them above light switches and on computers… anywhere they might particularly remind people of the problem of climate change. Print them on green, recycled paper, and make sure you tell people where they can recycle them!
Put posters all over the school/college.
Make sure you put them in prominent places and look for places where people are likely to have to time to read them. In the sixth form common room, the queuing area for the canteen, in the staff room and on classroom doors are all good places to put posters.
Organise a Go Green day or Go Green event.
Persuade teachers to give an environmental angle to their lessons for a whole day, have a special Go Green assembly in the morning, a lunch where all the food is green (in colour as well as being environmentally friendly), take over afternoon lessons for a Go Green party or concert…the possibilities are endless, and you’ll be surprised how much support you might get from staff.
Hold a Go Green Stall.
Set up a stall in a prominent place such as the entrance foyer to your school or college. Use some of the People & Planet climate change posters, or make your own decorations to make the stall look appealing. Have plenty of Go Green action cards on the stall for people to sign, and make sure that you’re ready to explain what you’re doing and why. Have a sheet to collect names and email addresses of people who’d like to support the campaign so you can get them involved and keep them updated on what you’re doing.
Have a green cake sale.
Bake some tasty home-made cakes (use Fairtrade, local and organic ingredients where possible), and add green food colouring for an eye-catching way to draw attention to your campaign. You can use this as a fundraiser too.
Have a Go Green noticeboard.
Use it to publish the results of the carbon audit, to publish your aims and to give updates on progress. You can also put up interesting articles on the theme of climate change, pictures etc.
Go Green art attack and wrap trees in green crepe paper
Use crepe paper if the weather is good, but note that it goes soggy in the rain! Sugar paper is a good alternative. Both sorts of paper are easily available in most stationery shops. Cut it into lengths, stencil ‘Go Green’ on it and wrap it round trees and buildings. Make a stencil from old card. Alternatively, you could wrap huge Go Green ribbons around trees - Or how about creating an ‘art attack’ our of recycled materials.
Make Go Green flags
The cheapest material to use, unless you manage to get lots at a 2nd hand shop, is silk lining material. It’s usually about £2 per metre. You need to make a sleeve at one end of the material by folding the material over and sewing, gluing or stapling it, so that you can put a bamboo pole up the sleeve and stick it in the ground.
The more environmentally friendly way to put the lettering ‘Go Green’ on the material is to cut the lettering out of black material and sew it on, or use acrylic paint. The easiest way is to make a stencil and spray paint it.
Dress in green from head to toe!
Need we say more … Just send us some photos!
Hang a banner out of the window of your sixth form centre or common room.
See if your school/college has got any white sheets it’s about to throw away from its halls of residence or try 2nd hand shops. A mix of 50/50 powder paint and PVA glue is the best way to make waterproof paint. Don’t worry that when you mix the powder paint and glue the colour is much paler than the powder colour - it will dry darker.
Go Green screen saver
Change the screensavers on the computers in your computer lab to display the ‘Go Green’ message, preferably in shades of green. You could also make images promoting your campaign using a graphics program and set them as the background ‘wallpaper’ on all the computers.
Make Go Green signs for signposts
Get some big pieces of old cardboard which have been used for packaging, e.g. at electrical goods and bike shops. Cut them into ‘arrow’ shaped signs, paint them green or stick green paper on them, write ‘Go Green’ in black and stick them on to the directions signs at your school/college.
Go Green street theatre.
Ask the juggling or drama society to give you a hand to draw attention to your stall. Or, you know how in Covent Garden and in lots of high streets you get people dressed in silver from head to toe, and they stand there not moving for ages, and then do something - you could do this, but in green!
Go Green band.
Is there a string quartet or samba band at your school/college? Ask them to dress in green and silver, and come and play when you have your stall. This will draw attention to your stall, and make a great picture for the local paper.
Print your homework on green paper.
Buy a ream of recycled, green coloured paper from your local stationery shop. Ask students to print their homework on it, to get the campaign message out to academic staff.
Go Green face painting.
Face paint everyone you can.
Go Green chalking
Chalk Go Green on your class room blackboard, and draw green footprints on footpaths.
Think up other creative ways to campaign.
The more original and fun the better. Whatever you do, let us know and send us your photos and your story could go on the the People & Planet website. Email Alex with your news.