Throughout New Zealand enviroschools are taking action within their school to make positive environmental changes. Every year enviroschools divert tonnes of waste from landfill through recycling and worm farms, plant thousands of native trees and make sure they use energy and water efficiently to reduce consumption. Collectively, all of these sustainable outcomes mean that enviroschools are making a big difference to our environment, and schools are making progress on their journey towards creating sustainable school communities.
We hear of all this positive action being taken, but “how much change” are enviroschools actually making and what difference does this make collectively to New Zealand?
‘If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it’
Measuring Sustainable Outcomes will help schools collect environmental data in five theme areas; Zero Waste, Universal Energy, Water of Life, Living Landscapes and Sustainable Products and Services.
The data will be collected from schools each year and will build an online monitoring resource that will allow schools to gauge how well they are doing and see the progress they are making towards being a sustainable school. Schools submit data and Enviroschools will process this information and generate each school a progress report.
Measuring Sustainable Outcomes will help schools;
·measure physical outcomes so that they can manage their progress towards sustainability goals,
·help schools to identify where further improvements could be made or to secure funding and support for projects.
·compare and share what they are doing with other schools in their region and in New Zealand.
·measure progress and celebrate achievements.
How does it work?
For each theme area, Zero Waste, Universal Energy, Water of Life, Living Landscapes and Sustainable Products and Services, a measurement tool and data collection process has been developed.
There is a Data Summary Sheet where you will record the results of your measurements. This is the information that you submit to Enviroschools and from which your progress report will be generated. We have chosen these measurements to help us make accurate comparisons of the data received from all enviroschools and to get a useful snapshot of the picture at your school.
Under Data Collection Pack there are methods and explanations to guide you through data collection in your school and sheets for you to record this information as you go. Use these step-by-step tools to make sure you follow the same standardised process that all other enviroschools will be using. The data collection sheets will help you complete the Data Summary Sheet.
Teacher Support Activities are available with extra information, classroom exercises and other support materials.
Where do we start?
Schools are all at different places in their sustainability journey and may be focusing on action in different theme areas. It doesn’t matter how far you have come on your journey, Measuring Sustainable Outcomes is about finding out where you are at now, and then tracking the progress that you will make over time.
The sooner your school submits a completed Data Summary Sheet for each theme area, the sooner you will have a comprehensive report showing where your school is at in comparison to other schools, how you have been progressing and information that will guide decision making on what to focus on next.
Some questions to help you get started.
Who will take the lead in co-ordinating Measuring Sustainable Outcomes at your school?
Who will be involved? How will you make this a whole school approach to collecting data and interpreting results? Students, Teachers and Administration staff are all key to making this happen.
Which theme area will you focus on first? When will you do the measurements and collect data? What theme will come next and when will it be measured?
How can you set up processes to ensure this data is collected annually?
Can you set up a Measuring Sustainable Outcomes folder in the school office so that everyone collecting and recording information knows where to keep it?
Getting started
Follow the links to begin Measuring the Sustainable Outcomes at your school.
