Participating in the EWWR Proj...
As we have been participating in the EWWR project for many years now, in 2020 we wanted to do something different. So we decided to turn the theme of “Invisible Waste” on its head, and started tackling the topic from the “tail”, striving to help our students realise that there is no need to throw away every item that breaks, tears, rips – we can buy less by fixing or mending more, and this is what we wanted our kids to understand – and put into practice - first and foremost.
So we asked the children to look for something around the house, - or their grandparents’ house if they were spending a lot of time with their grandparents, - which needed mending and which they would normally just chuck into the trash can. It could be a toy, a book, a piece of equipment which might just need two or three screws to be put in place, a gadget that might function again if it was cleaned or serviced.
Whatever repair could be done by the children themselves, helped by an adult at home, would be photographed or filmed. The children tried their hands at various items, and managed to mend quite a long list of things, including sunglasses, different toys, books, lampshades, plates, and other household goods, religious items, telephones and controls, and even doors, windows, drawers and much more ….
Moreover, students were asked to speak about the item they mended, and how they felt about their success. Some of them also brought the mended item to school to show their peers in class. Others brought pictures of their mended items, or else projected a picture on the Interactive whiteboard for all to admire.
The fact that the students gave a new lease of life to the broken or torn things filled them with great satisfaction, and they felt truly proud of themselves for achieving something worthwhile. The smiles on their faces as they admired the finished product speak a thousand words!!!
In this way, the little trickle which started with mending a broken or torn item, by young students, in a small Kindergarten and Primary school in Gozo, would have a ripple effect, possibly leaving a much greater impact on our students, their families and beyond through the sharing of this good practice on the school’s facebook page, and the school’s Environmental projects fb page.
