Environmental Education • 5min read

Starting an Eco Club at Your School

Screen Shot 2024 08 30 at 2 28 43 PM

Are you thinking of sparking student creativity and innovation in environmental leadership and climate action at your school? The best way to do this is by starting an eco club led by the students themselves. Eco clubs are a powerful tool to help build student leadership, foster teamwork, and spark action on issues that matter. Teachers can use them to connect learning to real-world problems, while school staff, students, and even parents can help lead the way in creating a greener, more sustainable school community. This guide will help you start the school year off strong with tips for launching your club, as well as give you a full year of activity ideas to keep the momentum going.

Define Your Purpose

The first step in starting an eco club to have a solid foundation is deciding your purpose. The first meeting can be dedicated to exploring the environmental issues that matter most to your group or even surveying students and teachers to find out the issues most important to them. Sometimes, eco-resolutions are a great place to start. Whether it be climate change, energy use, waste reduction, or something else, coming up with a main goal or issue will have everyone motivated and on the same page. From there, work together to shape some goals for the coming school year. It can be something simple like “reduce single use plastic at our school” or even something broad like “guide and inspire our school to live more sustainably”. Creating a shared purpose will help guide decisions of the club and make it easier to plan activities that connect back to your goals.

Gather Your Team and Develop a Routine

Collaboration is important for an eco club to be successful. Start by inviting students from different grades and classrooms to join. This helps for the longevity of the club and for fresh perspectives each year. Once you have formed your team, set aside a time weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly that works for your team. Being consistent with your meeting times helps keep your club on track and motivated. Use your meeting time to start new activities, check in on progress, plan any upcoming activities, and reflect on what’s working and what can be improved. Keeping the space well-organized, welcoming, and student-led will help everyone stay motivated and excited to contribute.

Plan out the School Year

One of the best methods for starting an eco club and keeping organized is by planning activities and events around different environmental days and seasons. From Earth Day to World Oceans Day, there are many opportunities for your club to align your efforts with national campaigns and different events. This month-by-month snapshot can help spark ideas and keep your club active and involved all year long. You can create a customized calendar to guide your school’s effort or simply follow the one in this article below. Either way, celebrating and engaging in positive actions on these days will help you to get set up for school year achievement. If you are looking for more project-based activities, be sure to check out our annual challenges.


Share and Celebrate Your Successes

When starting an eco club, don’t let the hard work of your students go unnoticed! Take time to celebrate both the big and small wins, and share your impact with the school community. Highlight projects on social media, morning announcements, school newsletters, or even on a display board in your school's hallway. This will build momentum and pride within the group, and inspire other students in the school to get involved. Other ways to celebrate could include a short video showcasing your journey or a year-end celebration. Recognizing the efforts made by your eco club helps reinforce the message that taking environmental action is something to be proud of, and that everyone has a role to play.

Now that you’ve got everything you need to start an eco-club, here are some environmental days for planning activities. Review the list and see which ones best align with your eco-club’s purpose. Doing one per month is recommended or choose more. To help you save time, we’ve listed some of our resources that can help with lessons and activities. We also offer various webinars and workshops to help you engage your students. Simply browse our Webinar and Events Page to see which webinars your students may be interested in, and register. All workshops and webinars are delivered through zoom.

Environmental Days During the School Year

September

  • Sept 4: National Wildlife Day

  • Sept 07: International Literacy Day

  • Sept 16: World Ozone Day

  • Sept 16: World Clean Up Day

  • Sept 21: Zero Emissions Day

  • Sept 22: Car Free Day

  • Sept 26: World Rivers Day

  • Sept 30: Truth and Reconciliation Day

  • Sept: Science Literacy Week


October


November

  • Nov 8: STEM/STEAM Day

  • Nov 21: World Fisheries Day


December

  • Dec 04: Wildlife Conservation Day

  • Dec 05: World Soil Day

  • Dec 11: International Mountain Day

  • Dec: Holidays

    • Eco gifts and wrapping


January



February


March


April


May

  • May 05-11: International Compost Awareness Week

  • May 20: World Bee Day

  • May 22: International Day for Biological Diversity

  • May 23: Outdoor Classroom Day

  • Last week of May - Bike to school week

  • GreenLearning’s Challenges Submission Deadline


June

Back to Blog