Sustainability in childcare is more than just a trend; it’s an essential practice to ensure our children inherit a healthy planet. Discover key strategies and the importance of incorporating environmental stewardship into childcare settings.
This guide provides insights into actionable methods that teach our youngest citizens the value of living sustainably, preparing them for a future where they’re not just inhabitants of the Earth but its caretakers.
Key Takeaways
- Shine Early Learning adopts a multidimensional approach to sustainability in childcare, focusing on natural, social, political, and economic practices while emphasising environmental education’s importance through tools like environmental-themed books and engagement with the natural world.
- Sustainability practices at Shine revolve around three key pillars: reducing food waste through strategic meal planning and family-style serving, utilising natural materials to foster creativity and environmental awareness, and implementing water conservation techniques both in practice and education.
- A partnership between Shine and families extends sustainability practices beyond the childcare environment into homes. Shine provides educational programs, community events, and an environmental audit system to ensure continuous improvement and broader community engagement in sustainability.
Shine Early Learning’s Approach to Sustainability
Shine Early Learning takes a holistic approach to sustainability, focusing on the following dimensions and integrating them across all service operations:
- Natural: gardening, introducing natural fibers, understanding environmental impact, water preservation
- Social: emphasising real food, using locally farmed ingredients
- Political: advocating for sustainable practices and policies
- Economic: supporting local businesses and suppliers
The center’s sustainability practices encompass environmentally responsible actions such as recycling and using sustainable materials.
Children at Shine are exposed to a variety of environmental-themed books which foster interaction with the natural world and illustrate the impact individuals can have on the environment. This approach to sustainability is rooted in the definition of sustainable development by the UN World Commission on Environment and Development, which emphasises the need to meet present requirements without compromising future generations’ ability to meet their own needs.
The Pillars of Childcare Sustainability at Shine
Reducing Food Waste with Home-Style Meals
Shine employs a unique strategy to reduce food waste. Through online tools like FoodChecker, Shine can plan meals accurately, determining proper portion sizes and ingredient quantities for children’s meals, effectively decreasing food waste. Another strategy employed is ‘family-style serving’. This approach allows children to serve themselves, fostering mindful eating habits and reducing food waste by learning to decide how much to eat.
In addition, Shine adopts various methods, such as incorporating leftovers and food scraps into soups, casseroles, and smoothies, along with quickly cooling and storing to prevent bacterial growth to manage and use leftovers effectively. Child educators guide children through experiences that teach them about reducing food waste, such as careful food purchasing to avoid excess and understanding the significance of eating what they serve.
Engaging Children with Natural Materials
Natural and recyclable materials are integral to the learning environment at Shine. They serve as the ‘third teacher’ in child education, adding complexity and variety to children’s play and supporting problem-solving, scientific inquiry, and numeracy skills.
These materials are incorporated into creative expressions such as art projects with scrap paper collages and storytelling with paper bag puppets that foster sustainability and resourcefulness.
DIY educational tools and musical instruments created from everyday recyclable items are used to develop problem-solving skills and fine motor skills and to instil an understanding of the importance of reusing resources.
Water Conservation in Action
Shine’s educational programs form the foundation for instilling in children a sense of environmental responsibility. Their curriculum integrates sustainability into various aspects of children’s learning, promoting holistic growth across:
- Social development
- Physical development
- Emotional development
- Intellectual development
With daily practices and resources aimed at a sustainable future, we can embed sustainable practices into our routines.
Using natural materials in play and other educational activities, Shine implements role-model sustainable practices and discusses them with children, teaching critical concepts like recycling, reusing, and repurposing. As per the National Quality Framework, the programs are designed to help children develop confidence and foster a capacity to value, respect, and understand the interdependence between humans and the natural environment.
Local Community Collaboration for Broader Impact
Community collaboration is a key element of Shine’s sustainability strategy. They foster local collaboration to create sustainable environments and educate young learners and their families. Shine involves children in Earth Day activities such as recycling sorting games and scavenger hunts designed to raise environmental awareness.
Shine also encourages economic sustainability by organising family book and clothing swaps, enhancing community ties and promoting the reuse aspect of sustainability. Through these efforts, Shine effectively educates and engages the community in locally relevant sustainable practices, contributing to a broader positive impact on environmental sustainability.
Continuous Improvement Through Environmental Audits
Shine employs environmental audits to support the ongoing enhancement of sustainability measures. These audits, aligning with National Quality Standard (NQS) Element 3.3.1, assess elements such as:
- Water use
- Energy use
- Waste minimisation
- Chemical use
- Biodiversity
- Purchasing
These audits are conducted to enhance sustainability.
The environmental audit process evaluates current practices and identifies areas for improvement, supporting ongoing enhancement of sustainability measures. Sustainability checklists are used in audits to comprehensively review key areas, helping centres become aware of their environmental performance. Audit outcomes drive the development of strategies to reduce waste and consumption, involving stakeholders through policies and reflective questions, promoting continuous sustainability improvements.
