Earth Day: Planet vs. Plastics at Kopila
Saturday, April 20, 2024
We hope your spring is off to a good start! It’s a busy time at Kopila Valley, as we just wrapped up a school session. Students took exams and graduated to their next grade levels, so we’re celebrating all they’ve accomplished. Thank you for being a part of this!
As you probably know, Earth Day is coming soon on April 22, so we’re celebrating your participation in our sustainability work too!
Eco-conscious living is woven into everyday life at Kopila Valley. Here are some recent sustainability highlights that you’ve made possible:
- Kopila Valley School WON an Eco-Club award in Nepal!
- The staff are embracing electronic bicycles and have started a biking club.
- 91% of our overall waste collection at the school and office is diverted from the landfill and reused, composted, or repurposed. WOW!
This year’s global Earth Day theme is Planet vs. Plastics, and we’re joining the call to end single-use plastics.
Read on for 5 plastic-free strategies our Kopila caretakers, both students and staff, have adopted to improve the health of the planet and our community. Your support makes these possible, and you can take these steps too.
1. Saying goodbye to plastic waste.
In 2019, Kopila Valley School banned single-use plastic. To encourage new behaviors, every student gets a reusable water bottle along with their sustainability education. Maggie and Tope posed for the team with their water bottles and upcycled rice sack shopping bags from the Women’s Center.
2. Growing our own food and shopping local.
We took this step to reduce plastic food packaging and promote organic and regenerative agriculture. This is an important step for planet health AND for the nutrition of the students (no one wants microplastics in their food!)
3. Embracing upcycling habits.
Student clubs and classes are using natural and local materials, repurposing plastic to give it new life, and diverting trash from the landfill every day.
4. Promoting local foods in the community.
Instead of purchasing prepackaged items in plastic, we buy local foods! We recently provided a two-day rooftop farming training for local residents to learn how to grow their own produce.
5. Growing slow fashion.
The Women’s Center is creating handmade, quality products with natural fibers, in stark contrast to typical “fast fashion” garments that are made for speed and full of microplastics. Women have also been making reusable cloth sanitary pads to encourage plastic-free living.
As the students and staff at Kopila put their learning into action, they demonstrate to all of us that we each have a responsibility to the environment and can do our part. Thank you for supporting these young caretakers and the planet!
We have more Earth Day stories to share this month. Please be sure to follow us on social media and SHARE us with a friend who loves the planet too!
Thank you for all of the ways you support the children, women, and families of Kopila Valley. Happy Earth Month!
Sincerely,
Team BlinkNow