SUSTAINABILITY

Alison Hestletine, early years development officer at the Alliance, supports families and educators.

A starting point for the discussion was the principle that just the smallest of steps can have an impact and make a difference. Sustainability can be an overwhelming issue even for adults to tackle. The most successful approach seems to be breaking it down into bite-sized and manageable chunks.

Elaine, who is a setting manager in the north-east, shared with us that the first step for her staff team was discussing together where they felt comfortable in terms of their existing knowledge and identifying the information and support they needed to move forward. They discovered through these meetings that some members of their team had a real passion for sustainability and these people became champions of the topic, supporting children, staff and families.

As a team, they acknowledged that everyone in the setting needed to commit to the plan and to believe in what they were doing in order to be the best role models for children and families. They identified some small changes that they could make straight away. For example, no longer using any glitter which was immediately implemented. Recognising that a key element of success was extending their reach beyond the setting, families have been encouraged to share their own ideas. This included making homemade beeswax wraps to reduce plastic film and bag use – saving money as well as reducing waste.

Jen, a parent of two young boys, explained that they had spoken as a family about what changes they felt they could make together. She shared with us some of the steps they had taken, such as making a conscious decision to reduce single use plastic and explaining to the children why. This included looking at some of the craft materials the children used. They try to not always buy new resources and instead look to reuse items in the home or free and found resources while out on walks to the local woods.

Food waste and rubbish were also issues that they had tried to tackle as a family. This involved being aware of portion sizes, raising the children’s awareness of what happens to our rubbish when we put it into bins and involving them in reducing the amount of waste they produce.

Like Elaine, Jen felt strongly that as adults we can make sustainability the norm for our children. It shouldn’t be another chore to do, but instead just how you live each day.norm for our children. It shouldn’t be another chore to do, but instead just how you live each day. This means that we can influence not only this generation but others to come too.

Both Elaine and Jen spoke about how connecting children to nature has given them opportunities to build on their understanding of what sustainability means by caring for the natural world and viewing it as something precious that must be nurtured and protected.

In her setting near the coast, Elaine and her staff had taken the lead from the children, building on their existing knowledge to introduce topics such as the effect of plastics in the oceans. They listen to the children’s views and ideas, valuing the input and solutions, and ensuring that they feel involved in sustainability, and are not watching it from the sidelines. They have plans to extend this beyond the setting into the community. We all recognise that children can be passionate advocates if we take the time to listen to their voices.

If each of us just takes a few small steps, the effect can be magnified and make a real difference.

Jen too has used her boys’ love of nature to help them understand what sustainability means and how they can become involved by respecting and caring for their local environment and community.

As a family they are trying to spend more time outdoors as they walk to school and visit their local woods, taking the time to notice the world around them and the responsibilities that we all share to protect our beautiful planet.

The discussion highlighted that we need to educate not only our children, but also ourselves, if we want to ensure the sustainability of our planet. Both Elaine as an educator and Jen as a parent discussed how they role model to their children caring for the environment, ensuring children’s active involvement and engagement.
It presented an opportunity for reflection of our understanding of what sustainability means and how if each of us just takes a few small steps the effect can be magnified and make a real difference.