The first public kindergarten in Greece in the process of reducing waste
At the 10th Public Kindergarten of Komotini, children, teachers and parents participated in activities to be engaged in the Zero Waste principles and reduce waste both at school and at home. These activities took place in the Kindergarten from January 2020 to the end of June 2020. “Kookoonari” organized age appropriate workshops for children, others addressed to adults or for mixed audiences.
Activities for children
The educational activities addressed to the 93 children of the Kindergarten were implemented in each of the 4 classes during the school hours. There was a wide variety of activities all aiming to familiarize children with the concepts of “waste” and “harmful chemical ingredients” as well as with the consequences of their disposal in the natural environment. In addition, children were given the opportunity to distinguish everyday choices that are environmentally friendly and non-environmentally friendly, so they could develop their critical thinking.
To achieve all the above various activities have been implemented including: creating a table of quantity and type of waste produced in the classroom, separating recyclable and non-recyclable materials, creating coloring paints and playdough, planting of traditional plants, organizing a Zero Waste Carnival party, installing a compost bin in the school yard and familiarizing children with its use.
Actions for adults
In the afternoons informative and experiential workshops were implemented in the school premises, in order for the adults of the school community, i.e. teachers and parents, to understand the Zero Waste philosophy and the importance of changing their consumer behavior and to take their first steps in adopting everyday practices based on the Zero Waste principles. The adults of the 10th Kindergarten actively participated in workshops for making beeswax cloth wraps, cloth bags and cases from old T-shirts as well as natural cosmetics, which were carried out under the guidance of specialists. Another workshop was implemented in local shops of Komotini with products in bulk, where adults and children made their purchases in reusable containers.
Acknowledgements
All actions mentioned above were realized thanks to Maria Stroumpa (member of our team) who took part at the capacity building and fellowship program named “START – Create Cultural Change”, which supported this effort from the very beginning. “START – Create Cultural Change” is a program of the Robert Bosch Stiftung, conducted in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Thessaloniki, and the German Association of Sociocultural Centers, supported by the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation and the Bodossaki Foundation.
We would also like to thank all those who also joined us, assisted and supported us; people, organizations and businesses! We thank our partners and our sponsors and we are grateful to all the teachers, parents and children of the school!
