„I am green. Fashion or necessity?“ in Telšiai

Telšiai Žemaitės Gymnasium has several years generated an idea about garbage containers near the school. The school community took real action in 2019 when the school – member of European Parliament Ambassador School Programme – accepted the challenge to participate in a European Commission debate „I am green. Fashion or necessity?“.

Students at various lessons and during other civic education events often talked about issues of environmental protection, shared examples about garbage management in their homes, gardens and the city. They regretted that there were no garbage containers near any of the schools in Telšiai. They discussed with school head-masters about garbage handling by the schools, they wondered where and how paper and other recyclable waste was transported. Students identified environmental issues at numerous meetings with municipal representatives. The decisive naming of the problem in question may have occurred at a round table discussion in September 2019. About 20 young people, and 2 representatives of Telšiai District Municipality Council and 2 people representing Telšiai Youth Council, took part in that discussion.

Description of actions taken:

• The overall campaign was led by teacher Vilija Vaičiulienė;
• 52 gymnasium students conducted a research / survey on waste sorting possibilities in Telšiai city schools;
• Gymnasium students visited Kranto, Ateities, Germantas progymnasiums, Džiugas and Vincentas Borisevičius gymnasiums, and talked about garbage problem and garbage containers issues with students, teachers and head-masters of those schools;
• Analysed results of the research / survey;
• Drafted a petition;
• The petition was signed by students of grades IIB and IIC of the leading gymnasium;
• A meeting with the mayor was organized on October 10, 2019;
• The meeting was described in the website of the municipality;
• The mayor welcomed the initiative of the students and reacted quickly to the problem raised.

Thanks to these actions garbage containers for paper and plastic were equipped on the territory of the gymnasium on October 18. The mayor promised to build more containers for other schools in Telšiai at the beginning of 2020. By the decision of the Municipality, containers were installed by a company which is responsible for waste management in Telšiai town.

Why was it successful?

• Students actively interacted with YCGN and other project participants before launching of the campaign;
• Pupils received a lot of inspiration from friends – debaters, parents, school teachers and head-masters;
• In the course of the YCGN project, students acquired not only knowledge but also practical skills in communication with decision makers (Telšiai District Municipal Council) and the municipal administration;
• Trainings and other activities of the YCGN project (seminars, visits, round table discussions) motivated to take some concrete actions;
• Teachers constantly encouraged their students, did some educational work with parents of the school students.