The project with double the profit for awareness

Project Adults4Green - Erasmus+ 2022-2-ES01-KA210-ADU-000101053

The Adults 4 Green project aims to raise awareness of responsible and sustainable consumption among adults in the population. This includes products that are consumed and services that are utilised. With the help of an E-toolkit, adults are to be provided with useful information and tips that will gradually sensitise them to the need to consume local and regional products.

In my opinion, this project is very sensible and profitable in terms of several factors. Firstly, the planet's resources are getting less, and the population is constantly growing. This is an important point that shows us that we need to change our consumption habits.

Furthermore, the target group of the project, which is the adult population, serves as a role model for others, especially the adolescent population. Whether as parents or at work (e.g., in kindergarten, school, or many other areas): Children learn by the model.

Adults who act as role models for children are therefore important and formative. If the project trains adults in their awareness of sustainable consumption and services, the children around them will do the same. This is because children learn by example and imitation, among other things, and parents and adults act as role models for them. The child perceives what the parents say and how they act.

This information and the resulting views and ways of thinking shape the child, and it is likely that they will apply them in their own lives.

This shows how important it is, therefore, to be a conscious role model with the resources that are not unlimited at our disposal.

As part of the project, an E-toolkit was created to educate adults about sustainable living. It contains lots of valuable information about responsible and sustainable consumption, quality and quantity standards, fair trade, and best practice examples of responsible consumption. It also includes tips and exercises.

The E-toolkit is appealing, easy to understand and illustrated, and is also available in various languages.

There are many areas where something needs to change. One area is the reduction of waste. This includes:

• Reducing plastic and using products that do not require plastic packaging.

• Buying directly from the consumer and using reusable packaging options.

• Using your own containers for filling flour, nuts or pasta and using cloth bags instead of plastic bags for fruit and vegetables.

  
  

I also see great benefits for children by shopping at local producers. When they go shopping there with their parents, they are in the neighbourhood where the produce is grown. The producers are often happy to show their customers how they grow the produce or how the animals are kept.

For example, how the milk from the cow that is still grazing in the pasture ends up in the bottle. Or how a grain stalk grows from a seed and is ultimately turned into flour after the harvest.

I am sure that in this day and age, and especially in areas that are far removed from the land and agriculture, some children do not have this information, and it is therefore particularly valuable to establish these connections on a holistic level.

The E-toolkit can serve as inspiration for projects in educational institutions such as nurseries or schools. For example, on the topics of plastic consumption and its impact on our world or the cultivation of fruit and vegetables. The latter can be easily implemented as part of a school garden and can promote important skills in a holistic way.

The idea comes from reform pedagogy and follows the guiding principle of learning with head, heart, and hand.

With regard to healthy eating, environmental protection, ecological relationships and sustainability, I consider nature-based school gardening to be very important.

By working in the school garden, the children can experience the seasonal rhythm and respect for nature. Growing their own vegetables usually means that they are not simply thrown away. In this way, the children can learn to treat food with care.

What I find most important, and fitting, is the saying: “the journey is the destination.” People cannot be expected to radically change their entire lives overnight. This is also not possible for many people in terms of financial resources.

What I would like to highlight with the saying is that if everyone changed something (small) in their lives, e.g., instead of driving the child to nursery by car, walking or buying potatoes from the local farmer instead of those imported from abroad by the supermarket, we could already achieve a lot.

If everyone changes something for the better, even if it seems small in their eyes, it has a big impact on the whole.

“Many small people in many small places doing many small things can change the face of the world” (African proverb).

This project has already raised awareness among many people, and I'm sure it will have a big impact. It is very diverse, and with every step in the right direction, we can all contribute to a more sustainable planet.