This year, our school embraced sustainability by engaging in a vibrant gardening project as part of the European Week for Waste Reduction 2024. With the guidance of our dedicated gardening teachers, the EkoSkola students committee successfully planted over 300 basil plants. Students participated in the re-potting process, ensuring the plants thrived while learning valuable horticultural skills.

Throughout the project, we held numerous class sessions focused on the basil plant, exploring its culinary uses and care requirements. To share our passion for greenery, we gifted 100 basil plants to our educators and staff, extending our love for nature into the wider community.

The remaining basil plants were re-potted into larger containers and placed in each classroom, where students nurtured them with enthusiasm and dedication until harvest. Their excitement was evident, and they took their responsibilities seriously, ensuring each plant was well cared for. Our efforts culminated in the highly anticipated “Pasta with Pesto Day,” where students actively participated in every aspect of the event—from harvesting the basil to preparing the delicious pesto. For this special day, we used olive oil pressed from olives harvested from our school’s own trees, further emphasizing our commitment to sustainability and local produce.

In line with this year’s theme of food waste, our initiative aimed to minimize environmental impact by utilizing local produce, which reduces transportation emissions and supports our community. We took careful pre-orders for “Pasta with Pesto Day” to ensure we only cooked the amount of pasta needed, preventing any waste. This approach not only highlights the importance of sustainability but also fosters greater awareness of food waste among students, encouraging them to be mindful of their consumption habits. Additionally, we asked students to bring their own reusable containers and cutlery from home, successfully eliminating the need for single-use plastics and reinforcing our sustainability message. By actively involving students in this practice, we not only reduced waste but also cultivated a culture of environmental mindfulness.

The students’ enthusiasm during the whole project highlighted their growing awareness and responsibility toward sustainable practices. All profits from the event will be reinvested into our gardening project. Looking ahead, we plan to plant basil for a second consecutive year and introduce tomatoes, which we will propagate from seeds. This initiative will provide students with hands-on experience in the entire plant growth process, fostering a deeper connection to sustainability and environmental stewardship.