02.05.2022

Earth Day mobilizes actions and reflections on sustainability

By Bruna Cronfli

The Planet Earth Day mobilized students, teachers, and collaborators, inviting everyone to rethink their attitudes, especially those related to the solid waste generated daily. 

The word “trash” is commonly used to identify something that has no value anymore. However, what is trash to some may be useful to others. Thus, the word is no longer in use, being replaced by waste – any material, substance, object or good that is discarded as a result of human activities and that can still be repaired, reused, treated or even recycled. When the residue no longer has any possibility of being reused, recycled or any other solution, it is a waste. 

Brazil is the 4th country that produces the most plastic waste in the world – and one of the least recycled! In the city of São Paulo alone, 20,000 tons of waste are produced every day, 40% of which is suitable for recycling, and only 4% of which has its proper destination. Therefore, it is very important to reduce, separate, and correctly dispose of our waste. 

Thinking about this and the current challenge we have at Beacon regarding the correct disposal of waste, educators from the school, in partnership with Reconnecta – sustainability advisor – planned an awareness week on the subject. Several actions sought to clarify doubts about what is or is not recyclable waste, and the educational team used strategies to raise awareness among students according to each age group. The students from the Elementary School, for example, thought of ways to reuse utensils, such as using the snack bottles as pots to plant the seeds that were distributed. 

In addition, other actions generated the commitment of the operational and administrative teams to change the current disposal culture. Training sessions were held in order to provide guidance and raise awareness about the importance of recycling and how to put it into practice more effectively.

Beacon already performs permanent collection of some special waste that is difficult to recycle. Besides that, it receives these materials and sends them to specific partners who recycle or reuse them for social actions. This is because the school believes in the pillars of sustainability and in how the theme is connected to one of the institution’s values: solidarity, and collaboration.