Wasteless; Waste Less, Recycle More!

We wanted to teach children and young people to protect the environment, to consume consciously and to recognize which paths they can take. Many everyday habits are learned and students of this ag...

We wanted to teach children and young people to protect the environment, to consume consciously and to recognize which paths they can take. Many everyday habits are learned and students of this age rarely recognize the effects of, for example, the constant desire for the latest cell phone or that eating meat should not be an everyday occurrence. Participants should: -actively work on environmental protection and develop your own ideas about it -Develop awareness of their responsibilities -Develop an understanding of the interrelationship between the environment and people -learn how to pass on their insights -learn to avoid waste/take recycling for granted -learn to adapt their needs to the need for environmental protection -become aware of the existing problems -Get to know and absorb ideas from other countries (partners) on environmentally conscious behavior/waste avoidance/recycling - present successful examples from their home country and their community/school to the other partners, specifically on the topics of waste reduction and recycling

Each school partner installed a “wasteless – waste less, recycle more” club in their facility. Students and colleagues involved in the project met regularly, developed project-relevant ideas and activities and implemented them. - Information events for students and staff - Topic-relevant project days at school - Creation of brochures related to each meeting that were circulated in the community/ --Information events for the community -Development of games -Performing/organizing plays for children (interactive) -Development/preparation/implementation of public projects - Project days on the topic of upcycling/waste avoidance or waste-avoiding (reducing) everyday life -Visit a recycling center -Conducting consumption-critical city tours -Workshops for the creative implementation of the topic of recycling in various school subjects such as art, technology and home economics - Topic-relevant exchange with the project partners

Outputs: - Upcycled objects that have been and are integrated into the everyday life of the students and/or community (from self-sewn shopping bags made from old clothing, upcycled clothing, wallets made from tetra packs to furniture, jewelry and decorative objects) - Interactive team game on the topic - Quiz on the topic - Numerous presentations about ways of waste disposal or recycling in the partner countries - Planning documents for the implementation of project days (within the school and in collaboration with local institutions Other findings: -all partner countries are making efforts to solve the problem of waste and pollution -Germany is at the forefront here; in all other partner countries, politics is at the beginning of tackling the problem - People must be made to understand that the consequences of environmental waste ultimately harm them in order to change their behavior. -Economy should no longer adhere to the principle of maximum profit and minimum effort at the same time Conclusion: We can only be successful with such projects and activities if politics and business also act in the interest of the environment