Eco School

The Eco-Schools programme

Eco-Schools is a school-based environmental management, certification and sustainable development education programme implemented in more than 100 countries.

The programme focuses on improving environmental management at schools, as well as environmental education. Educators draw on practical projects to support environmental learning at the school.

Every year, participating schools strive to improve on their efforts and qualify for the internationally recognised symbol of excellence, the Eco-Schools flag.

St Mary’s DSG registered with the Eco-Schools programme in 2014. After establishing a committee of Junior School and Senior School staff and parents, the first project identified was the implementation of the three recycling bin system in the classroom.

During the first year, learners were taught about recycling processes, their effect on the environment and how we could make a change. St Mary’s DSG was awarded a Bronze level at the end of 2014.

In the second year, the beginnings of a vegetable garden was started in both the Junior and Senior schools. The gardens were maintained by the students and all produce was donated to a local charity kitchen. In 2015, the Bophelo recycling project was established, taking recycling on the school property to a new level.

We achieved our Green Flag at the end of 2016 with the introduction of the annual eco market, the Grade 9 Outreach Vegetable Garden Project to Hammanskraal and the Junior School WESSA week.

In 2017, working with Mrs Elizabeth Boje and Tumelong Organisation, we started focusing on The Sweethearts Foundation, collecting bottle tops and bread tags for its wheelchair project.

As a community, we have continued to maintain and integrate the WESSA Eco-School goals in our learning. St Mary’s DSG was awarded Platinum level 4 in 2022.