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First published in Polish by Joanna Tabaka

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Green projects are not only those that raise environmental awareness, they also help to make pro-environmental practice a reality. Very often, despite your good intentions, you have no means of sharing surplus food you have bought or of not discarding unnecessary equipment and clothing. This is where the following examples of projects, which have already been successfully implemented in many places in Poland, often with the support of the local government, can help.

Before describing specific ideas, let us briefly discuss the issue of waste from an environmental perspective.

Product life cycle

What lands in your rubbish bin impacts the environment by filling landfills. The amount of rubbish generated is increasing yearly, and one day we will eventually run out of space to store it.

On average, 332kg of municipal waste was generated by the average Pole in 2019. This was 7kg more than in 2018. 43% of waste landed in landfills and 25% was recycled.

– according to CSO data.^[1]

Here it is worth stressing that landfills have an impact on the environment. They can contaminate groundwater and pollute air due to processes linked respectively to their unsealing and decay processes occurring in successive layers without daylight.

However, before rubbish becomes rubbish, there are preceding stages that allow you to see the hidden but actual environmental cost of every item purchased or project undertaken. That is why it is so important to be aware of the product life cycle and to translate it into an educational project, the effect of which is often fleeting.

A product life cycle consists of the following stages:

1. Sourcing of the raw material

2. Production

3. Distribution

4. Consumption

5. Dumping.

So you can see that before a product is bought, it makes a long journey involving energy, water and other resources, and sometimes it causes unimaginable environmental damage. That is why it is so important not to buy and throw things away hastily because every such decision adds to the waste of natural resources and causes pollution.

^{Photo by Tom Ezzatkhah on Unsplash}

Let us follow a product life cycle with the example of a sheet of paper. A tree has to grow for it to come into existence, and this is a process that takes several decades. The tree has to be cut down and transported to a sawmill. From the sawmill, it goes to a paper mill, where energy, toxic chemicals that bleach it and water are used to produce paper. It is estimated that it takes 10 litres of water to produce one sheet of paper! To produce one ream of paper, as much as 1000 litres of this life-giving natural resource is needed! Next, paper is cut and packed - often in plastic packaging that also had to be produced and delivered from somewhere. The ream of paper is then sent to wholesalers, stationery shops, or other outlets. It has to be properly stored there to retain its properties. Such distribution causes pollution resulting from the transport of goods. And before the product reaches you, you might use your car to get to the point of sale or order a courier. But it is not the end yet. After all, you buy paper for a specific purpose. You usually use it for printing with a printer and ink, which also have their life cycles.

It is worth considering the life cycle of all of these products. Taking such an approach discourages me from making ill-considered purchases and printing when I do not need to.

A life cycle of an educational project can be presented as follows:

1. Idea

2. Planning

3. Production

4. Promotion

5. Implementation

6. Evaluation

7. Follow up.

Therefore, prospective environmental costs should be considered in the design of each activity and methods of minimising them should be developed.

An important tip here is to develop educational projects that help the local community either eliminate the need to purchase the product, extend its life, include it in a circular cycle or recycle it so that it can serve a new function. You should promote the zero waste approach ) or even a minimalist lifestyle, which involves the following: refuse, reduce, respect, refill, reuse, repair, rot, recycle and rethink.

Examples

Foodsharing

Foodsharing is a global movement aimed at reducing food waste. It is estimated that one person on average throws away 247 kg of food annually in Poland!^[2] This is a huge waste of human labour, energy and water needed to produce food products.

Which projects promote foodsharing? Community fridges or food pantries are locations where people can give away surplus food or treat themselves to it. These are usually cupboards or fridges in easily accessible locations, such as a local community centre, town hall or church.

You can learn more about foodsharing in Poland by following the Facebook page: @FoodsharingPoland. You can track existing and emerging community fridges on a dedicated map.

Repair café

Another way to extend the lifespan of a product is to repair or restore it. Repair Café is a project in which access to specialised tools, space for restoration or access to professionals who can help, for example, service your bike before the next season, are provided. For example, a tailor’s shop where you can learn to alter clothes or meetings with craftsmen suggesting how to renovate furniture or shoes are of great value. Such meetings also raise awareness of the materials used and their durability and sensitivity to care for specific items properly.

Information in Polish about repair cafés, including how to set up and where to find one, can be found at: www.kawiarenkinaprawcze.pl.

Library of things

Library of Things is a movement directed at consumption reduction that is a popular trend in the UK^[3] and is gathering momentum in other countries. It aims to loan household appliances and equipment to a local community based on a membership fee. The modus operandi of a library of things (LOT) is similar to that of a book library. LOTs’ collections include useful items, ranging from drills and musical instruments to garden tools, leisure equipment and household appliances. LOTs can be themed or mixed.

In Poland, Warszawska Spółdzielnia Kultury (Warsaw Culture Cooperative) operates on similar grounds. Its members are local cultural institutions, NGOs, schools and individuals. They can borrow the items they need for a project without buying them. You can read more about the Cooperative here: www.spoldzielniakultury.waw.pl.

Garage Sales and Swap Meets

If you cannot set up a long-term project like a library of things, an option might be organising periodic and thematic garage sales^[4] or no-cost swap meets.  It's a great solution for giving a second life to items that you no longer need and which, for someone else, maybe sought-after goods. Thematic events, such as those addressed to families with children concerning books or plants, are great to start with. In particular, cost-free swaps of different plants or seedlings have recently gathered momentum and are often mediated by local community centres^[5] and libraries.

Other ideas...

There are more well-tested and successful projects, but the selection presented above will hopefully inspire you to design educational activities that minimise the negative impact on the environment. No matter what you decide to do, it is important to be guided by green ideas and promote strategies for reducing excessive buying and waste production throughout their implementation.

However, if you want to create something innovative, it is worth using the exercise available in the publication „Zielona Instytucja Kultury” (Green Cultural Institution) (task four “Generator ekodziałań”, p. 85).

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Joanna Tabaka – a coach, mentor, blogger, podcaster, and expert on communication and building audience development strategy in the culture sector. For some years, she has been watching environment-friendly activities and looking for ways to disseminate knowledge and practice in this field, involving - in particular - things about the role those cultural institutions might play in this process. She is a double grant holder of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. She has conducted over 100 workshops and meetings to promote culture and ecology. She keeps two blogs: Widok na Widownię (www.facebook.pl/widoknawidownie) and Zielona Instytucja Kultury (www.facebook.com/zielonainstytucjakultury). She is the author of two publications: „Kultura naturze, z Syrenką w tle. Dobre praktyki proekologiczne w warszawskich instytucjach kultury" and  „Zielona Instytucja Kultury”.

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Further reading:

Passive environmental education - how to subconsciously develop eco-friendly habits

Technology for the planet: tools and applications that help raise environmental awareness

Trainers save the Planet - The Eco-Guidebook and Six Rules to Follow

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Bibliography: