Prepared by Carmen Sylva
Interview with Graziella Digangi, the education counselor of the secondary cycle of the European School of Varese.
Our school participates in a project called Green School. I talked to Mrs. Digangi, one of the counselors of S1, S2 and S3, about this project.
A.B: What is Green School?
G.D: Green School is a project created by Lakes 21 (an ecological association) and the University of Insubria in Varese, to improve the sustainability of schools and to teach the students to have more respect for our ecosystem. It’s important for you to get used to being more attentive towards the environment, so you will behave the same also outside of school.
A.B: Which other schools are participating?
G.D: There are 200 schools throughout Lombardy which participate in the project. This project was initiated in the Province of Varese, but now there are schools from all over the region.
A.B: Who had the idea to participate in the project?
G.D: At the beginning of the year, I went to the School’s Management, saying that, I’m my opinion, the school has to be more sustainable for the future of our students. The Management accepted my proposal and I took part in the first meeting of Green School.
A.B: Who can participate in the meetings of Green School?
G.D: Green School is organizing five meetings throughout the year, for teachers and students. The organizers overview various local initiatives and offer an administrative support. Their prepared materials can be found online. At our school we have a group of volunteer students and teachers.
A.B: What changes can be made?
G.D: We are concentrating to improve in five areas: the water, the nature and the biodiversity, to save energy, trash and recycling and the waste of food. There are some specific things that we want to start with. Firstly, we need to have different bins for different types of waste, for example for glass, for plastic etc. Secondly, we want to get ecological detergents to clean the school with. Another change would be to use Ecosia instead of Google. Ecosia is also a web search engine, but the company uses proceeds from advertisements to plant trees throughout the world. Moreover, we would like to install fountains where students could fill up their bottles with water. In the cantine, we would like to reduce the amount of plastic we consume. Furthermore, we want to reduce the amount of water that is used to flush the toilet, because right now it’s more than what’s necessary. Finally, we would like to install solar panels.
A:B: What changes have been made so far?
G.D: The school has made some changes already. We started from the ecological suppliers. For example, the paper used in the printers has been switched to one which was produced without carbon footprint by a sustainable company. The toilet paper is ecological. Plastic and paper get collected in different bins. The coffee cups aren’t plastic anymore - they are made from paper. The light bulbs have very little energy consumption.
A.B: When and how do we finalize the project Green School?
G.D: In the end, when we manage to reach the level that the organizers of the project ask from all participants in the program, we will receive a certificate. This means that we will be a certified Green School.
G.D: Other than all of these changes, the most important part is you guys, the students! Because we need you, to change our destructive ways. You have the future in your hands!
Everybody can join initiative, starting from attention to own lifestyles daily, like not wasting water at cantine during the lunch time, etc.
Install Ecosia search engine on your computer and download Ecosia app for your mobile phone search: https://www.ecosia.org
More about the Green School initiative: https://greenschoolsforum.wordpress.com/il-progetto-green-school/
If you are interested to join the group of active students, please contact the Counselor Digangi.
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