Implementing A ‘Go Green’ Program For Preschool: A Case Study

Importance of ‘Go Green’ Program for Preschools

Discuss about the Case Study for Green Program for Pre School.

Part A

(a) Our environment today faces enormous threat from rapid urbanization, pollution, non-biodegradable materials and depletion of essential resources. Reduction of human carbon footprint is now extremely important to protect and sustain our environment (Houghton, 2009). Awareness and understanding of a healthier environment and resolution of potential conflicts must start at an early stage as children shall be responsible for reshaping the future of modern earth. Children of ages 3-7 are like porous sponges and they can observe and grasp information faster if learning starts during early childhood education (Wilson, 1996). An environmental “Go Green” program is proposed to implement recycling, reuse and waste prevention at the Tender Feet Nursery School by educating and engaging children.

(b) The main goal of this program is to create awareness about the importance of recycling among the preschool staff and children and implement recycling schemes within the premises through a collaboration of administrators, teachers, custodians and children. The program will incorporate recycling knowledge into the preschool curriculum and daily activities creating a fun and easy atmosphere ( (Lansburgh, 1976) (Pancheri-Ambrose & Tritschler-Scali, 2013). It shall encourage children of preschool age to recognize and understand the importance of recycling, reuse and waste management hereby making them more conducive towards protecting their environment (Gibbons, 1996). Considering the number and population of students in preschools; they accumulate huge waste which includes paper, books, electronic equipments like computers and printers and food/composite material. An interim goal of the Go Green program (also referred to as green program) shall be to make the preschool more equipped in handling and recycling these wastes (Lund, 1992), thus creating an opportunity to save on costs. These costs shall be monitored by evaluating the purchase bills once the program has been implemented, thus reflecting upon a comparable reduction of costs in the preschool office, classroom and cafeteria materials usage.

In the long-term, the Go Green program when successfully implemented at Tender Feet Nursery School shall set an excellent example and expectantly initiate duplication across other preschools, eventually stressing upon importance of recycling in society. Constant evaluation and monitoring through surveys and feedback will help to decipher progress of the preschool towards becoming more environments friendly and energy efficient hoping to decrease its carbon footprint.

(c) The Go Green program shall follow guidelines of National Waste Policy of the Department of Environment, Government of Australia ( Department of Environment, 2009) which provides environment friendly approaches for waste management within the country. The recycling and reuse strategies implemented through this program will be useful to address administrative costs and put fewer burdens on environment.

Objectives and Targets of the ‘Go Green’ Program

(d) Various resources are available on the World Wide Web to get information for designing and implementing the Go Green program. These are:

(i) The Environmental Protection Authority website (EPA, 2016) containing sufficient knowledge and guidelines for environment protection and waste reduction.

(ii) The ResourceSmartSchools website (Resource Smart Schools , 2013) containing information to assist schools in planning, designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating green programs.

(iii) Open-resource websites like Schools Recycle Right (SRS, 2011) and Virginia Recycling Association (VRA, 2016) in understanding the implementation of green programs within a school.

(e) The Go Green program shall address waste management including reduce, reuse and recycle through active collaboration of administrators, office staff, custodians, teachers and young preschoolers. The recyclables from the preschool including paper, metal, glass, wood and electronics shall be moved into the recycling stream helping to keep many precious resources from ending up in a landfill. The preschool shall be able to reduce the quantity of waste generated in the premises and also lower the frequency for need of garbage collection. The Go Green program shall achieve the dual purpose of saving costs for the preschool and also educating and creating awareness in young children to care for and nurture the environment. The key steps towards implementation are:

Formation of a green committee: Assignment of roles and responsibilities, spread of information and training of teachers and custodian staff.
Waste assessment and data collection: assessment of the waste generated, data collection with help of maintenance staff.
Implementation of recycling: recyclable collection and management, delivery to the recyclable contractor.
Education and awareness of children: classroom learning and involvement in recycling activities.
Monitoring and evaluation of the program: Feedback through surveys and discussions, liaison with local environment office and experts for advice.

Part B

Part B 1, 2 and 3: Main targets of the Go Green program

Setting essential targets and related objectives will lie at the foundation of the Go Green program. These targets will then facilitate systematic planning, design, implementation and assessment of the program making it a success.

The first target of the Go Green program will be identification and organization of a committee (hereon referred to as the green committee). This green committee shall be largely responsible for planning, design, implementation, maintenance and assessment of the program (Neeper & Dymond, 2012). It will also act as a connecting thread for all learning and activities (CedarRapidsCommunitySchoolDistrict, 2011). The key elements in the formation of green committee are:

Membership: The green committee can consist of representatives of administrators, teachers, facilities and maintenance staff and/or parents who are willing to volunteer. The green committee must comprise of at least one person either an administrator or a warden who is familiar with overall functioning of the preschool.

(ii) Definition of role and purpose: The green committee shall be planning a roadmap, undertaking research and coordinating learning and activities. They will form collaborations between specific departments within the preschool for implementation of the program.

Formation of a ‘Go Green’ Committee

(iii) Form liaisons: At least one green committee member, preferably an administrator will act a liaison with recycling staff from the local neighborhood or a government organization. He or She shall connect with a recycling expert for advice and assistance for planning, design and compliance with ordinances.

(iv) Regular discussions and meetings: The green committee shall hold brainstorming sessions, discussions and debates to obtain ideas and suggestions for design and implementation. The committee shall also hold private meetings at least quarterly or every month to evaluate the progress of the program.

Implementation shall start with waste assessment within the preschool premises to be followed by waste reduction and prevention. Efficient recycling shall require collaboration between teachers and maintenance staff for collection and sorting of recyclables and transporting these recyclables to an authorized recycle collection centre. The key elements of implementation are:

(i) Waste assessment: The green committee shall first identify the various types and amount of waste generated at the preschool premised covering all areas like cafeteria, classrooms, teacher room and offices. The accurate calculation and estimation of the waste can be taken from the facilities and maintenance staff. The green committee will then identify and evaluate the methods currently being used for handling and disposing the waste. Further, alternative and environmentally agreeable approaches for disposal as well as recycling shall be formulated (Laustsen, 2007)(Underwood, 2007).

(ii) Waste prevention, reduce and reuse: Waste assessment will help to identify materials which can be prevented from being disposed and could be reused including paper, wood, electronics, metal, glass etc. (Laustsen, 2007)(Underwood, 2007). This will enable the staff to be more organized and mindful to waste prevention.

(iv) Recycling: The next step is to identify materials in the waste which can be classified as recyclables (n.d., 1990). The various categories of recyclables can be paper, plastic, glass, metal, wood and food/composite waste. After classification, collection points in classrooms, office, cafeteria and other activity rooms are to be identified (n.d., 1994). The recyclables will be collected in a separate marked container that is mostly placed aside the trash bin.

The green program shall impart knowledge and understanding about the importance of recycling to the highly responsive and curious young children. Thus, different activities having recycling themes can be carried out (Ward, 2010) (Davis & Elliot, 2014) (Erturk Kara, et al., 2015). This information shall encourage young minds to raise questions and perform discussions with their teachers and parents. The children will be encouraged and motivated to perform practical activities for recycling which includes collection and sorting of litter (Gibbons, 1996) (Edwards, et al., 2012). The key elements of education and awareness are:

Implementation and Supervision of the ‘Go Green’ Program

(i) Lessons and activities: Children must be encouraged to participate in lessons/co-curricular activities which focus on the importance and need for recycling and should involve use of rhymes, books, games, art and craft, discussions etc.

(ii) Holding earth or environment day, nature walks to increase enthusiasm of the children towards the green program. Encouraging children to collect litter in containers during nature walks.

(iii) Collection and sorting of recyclable materials can promote active participation of the children alongside fun.

Part B 4. Resources

The Environmental Protection Authority website (EPA, 2016) contains guidelines for environment protection and waste reduction. The ResourceSmartSchools website (Resource Smart Schools , 2013), Schools Recycle Right (SRS, 2011) and Virginia Recycling Association (VRA, 2016) contains relevant information to assist schools in planning, designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating green programs.

Part C

Target 1: Formation of Go Green committee

	Action 1	Action 2	Action 3	Action 4
Objective	Developing a support framework	Developing collaboration between preschool administrators, local community and government recycling experts	Gathering, analyzing relevant information and statistics	Delivering progress reports
Potential opportunity	successful initiation	design preliminary and long-term goals	blueprint and final execution	updating status to local government office
Estimated $ saving	$5000 p.a. as only school personnel to be part of the committee
Capital cost	None	None	None	$500 for communications
Payback period	0	0	0	0
Target	objectives to be achieved during first implementation
Target dates	2 weeks to implement	3 weeks to implement
Budget	None	None	None	$500 for transportation, incidentals etc
People responsible	Administrators, teachers, volunteers

Target 2: Program implementation

Waste assessment

	Action 1
Objective	Identify size, quantity and types of wastes generated
Potential opportunity	Assessment will aid correct implementation
Estimated $ saving	50% reduction = $1000 p.a.
Capital cost	None
Payback period	6 months
Target	50% reduction in 6 months
Target dates	1 month to implement
Budget	None
People responsible	All staff

Waste prevention: reduce

	Action 1	Action 2	Action 3
Objective	Copy, print documents in duplex setting, viewing information electronically	administrative communications to be done electronically	Donation of discarded furniture, electronics etc to a local charity
Potential opportunity	Reduce paper usage	Reduce paper usage	Reduce wood and electronics waste
Estimated $ saving	40% reduction = $500 p.a.	50% reduction = $500 p.a.	N/A
Capital cost	None	None	None
Payback period	3 months	3 months	N/A
Target	80% compliance after 3 months	80% compliance after 3 months	N/A
Target dates	1 month to implement
Budget	None	None	None
People responsible	Administrators and teachers

Waste prevention: reuse

	Action 1	Action 2	Action 3
Objective	Place boxes in office, classroom for storing scrap paper	Store unused stationery	Usage of reusable and washable utensils and washcloth in cafeteria.
Potential opportunity	Reuse paper	Reuse stationery	Reuse cafeteria supplies
Estimated $ saving	50% reduction = $500 p.a.	50% reduction = $500 p.a.	100% reduction = $1000 p.a.
Capital cost	None	None	$2000 for equipment and materials
Payback period	6 months	6 months	2 months
Target	80% compliance after 3 months	80% compliance after 3 months	100% compliance after 2 months
Target dates	1 month to implement
Budget	None	None	$2000 for reusable cafeteria supplies, dishwasher
People responsible	Administrators and teachers	Cafeteria staff

	Action 4	Action 5
Objective	cartons, magazines, booklets, newspapers utilized for classroom art/craft activities	Household recyclables like cardboard boxes, cartons to be reused in the classroom for storage.
Potential opportunity	Reuse	Reuse
Estimated $ saving	80% reduction = $300 p.a.	80% reduction = $300 p.a.
Capital cost	None	None
Payback period	3 months	3 months
Target	95% compliance after 3 months	95% compliance after 3 months
Target dates	1 month to implement
Budget	None	None
People responsible	Teachers	Teachers and parent volunteers

Recycling

	Action 1	Action 2	Action 3
Objective	Identify collection points, decide collection container number and type	Adding recycling bins/containers to classroom, office, cafeteria having clear illustrations	Collect and transport recyclable material to contracted recycling service provider
Potential opportunity	Implementation of recycling	Collaborative recycling	Transporting recyclables to final destination
Estimated $ saving	N/A	N/A	50% reduction = $1000 p.a.
Capital cost	$500 for containers	None	$500 for external recycle services
Payback period	3 months	3 months	6 months
Target	95% compliance after 3 months	95% compliance after 3 months	100% compliance after 6 months
Target dates	1 month to implement
Budget	$500 for leak proof, durable and portable bins/containers	None	$500 for transportation and contract services
People responsible	Teachers and maintenance staff

Target 3: Educational and awareness of children

	Action 1	Action 2	Action 3
Objective	Education and awareness activities	Nature walks and excursions	Collection and sorting of recyclables
Potential opportunity/risk	Children will gain a sense of ownership while having fun	Children will be taught to identify safe litter for removal, avoiding unsafe, sharp or unknown objects. They must be given gloves	Children will learn sorting of recyclables. Recycle bins Sorting activity must be done near a sink to encourage children to wash away visible unwanted items. Food waste recyclables must be monitored to reduce contamination.
Estimated $ saving	N/A	N/A	50% reduction = $1000 p.a.
Capital cost	None	$100 for consumables
Payback period	1 year	1 year	1 year
Target	95% awareness after 1 year
Target dates	1 month to implement
Budget	$500 for teacher training	$100 for disposable gloves and hand wash
People responsible	Teachers and children

Part D

Since the Go Green program has been proposed by me, it is evident that I shall be constantly available to provide support and assistance, most crucially during implementation and also the critical first year of execution. This support from my end shall include three aspects: providing information wherever necessary, acquiring volunteers when required and finally promotion of the program. The information shall be provided through email, telephone and personal meeting as and when needed by the green committee. This information will be delivered by thorough research using internet resources. Next, the volunteers shall be appointed from within the local community through telephone and door to door visits when needed. Finally, program promotion shall be carried out through posters, banners and pamphlets and word of mouth publicity. Through support and assistance from my end I shall ensure that the green committee and all preschool staff is well equipped to plan, design, implement and maintain the green program in a smooth and successful manner.

2. (a) The main aspects of the program which need to be evaluated are its overall efficiency, efficacy of recycling and the reduction in various costs (Carleton-Hug & Hug, 2010)

Also, an important criterion for green program evaluation is the presence of contamination in the recycling stream. This can lead to disintegration of program flow and thus needs to be instantly addressed. The information on possible contaminations can be accurately provided by recycle service provider after collections are transported out of the preschool premises.

Waste Assessment and Prevention, Reduce, and Reuse Strategies

(b) The monitoring and evaluations shall be carried out largely by the green committee who are familiar with the various aspects of the green program. It is suggested that some monitoring could alternatively be done by members outside the green committee so as to eliminate bias or preconceived notions that may have settles into the committee’s functioning. Further, monitoring can also be supervised by recycling experts from either the local community or government energy office in liaison with the green committee.

(c) To carry out monitoring and evaluation efficiently, regular feedbacks are required which should include staff response, level of enthusiasm and their contentment with the roles assigned. Further, information on recycling efficacy and efficiency will include aspects like zero contamination and overall reduction of costs.

(d) The crucial information for carrying out monitoring and evaluation shall be obtained through the following methods:

(i) Outreach to the teachers and custodians who are responsible for collecting the recyclable materials and supervising the transport of recyclables to the contracted recycle service provider.

ii) Outreach to the contracted recycle service provider in order to evaluate known benchmarks and standards and whether they have been partially or completely achieved.

(iii) Since children at the preschool are under supervision of teachers when learning and carrying out the practical tasks of collecting and sorting recyclable material, their attitudes, behaviors and responsiveness changes can provide crucial information (Ljung-Djärf, et al., 2015)

(e) The teachers and preschool facilities and maintenance staff shall be largely responsible for collecting data to enable evaluation since custodians will mainly assist and facilitate waste assessment, collection of recyclable materials and supervision of transport of recyclables to the contracted recycle service provider.

(f) Evaluations of the data shall be done by members of the green committee in liaison with recycling experts from either the local community or government energy office.

(g) The results of monitoring shall be reported by the green committee to the recycling experts from either the local community or government energy office at least monthly during its first year of implementation and quarterly after that. A yearly comprehensive report must be submitted to the experts at the energy office.

To ensure the sustainability of Go Green program, the green committee needs to develop a methodology for consistent monitoring of all outcomes of the program for at least duration of one year post implementation (Carleton-Hug & Hug, 2010). Based upon the evaluation results, appropriate design alterations must then be suggested by the teachers for further scope of improvement as and when needed. Also, monitoring must be reinstated every first few months of the preschool terms in all succeeding years.

The important factor of contamination in recyclables must be monitored and if this is a reoccurrence then necessary trainings need to be conducted to re-educate the preschool staff. Feedback data from staff can highlight if any members are looking for larger roles and responsibilities which they could be given in the future. This will assist in periodically evaluating the program to address the general response and thereby suggesting suitable design modifications (Ozturk, 2016).

Therefore, for technical success of the Go Green program, two step monitoring and evaluation is suggested in which the green committee shall first include community volunteers to carry out different assessments which are then to be submitted to recycling experts at a local government establishment for comments. This can provide a stamp of approval and benchmarking by field experts. For making the green program sustainable in the preschool for years to come, the responsibilities have to be periodically rotated among the key administrators and teachers. Further, a robust monitoring plan will need to be identified which will include multiple approaches for identifying roles and responsibilities, re-education and training of teachers and custodians every year, routine newsletters and resources for each new green committee to smoothly take over the responsibility of the program and ensuring its success.

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