Green Wira Programme 2023/24

Green Wira Programe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdfbTcM3q5g&t=85s

Each year, we run a public survey to better understand the needs of the community and this programme was formed because our stakeholders wanted to see more zero waste introduced at the school level. Changing the national syllabus was far out of our reach at the moment, but we decided the loophole was to go directly to the heroes who deliver lessons in schools - teachers.

One of the biggest pain points we discovered was that sustainability is such a broad topic and there’s a big gap between knowledge and implementation. Many upskilling programmes were curated as one-off engagements, which aren’t embedded into the school culture over time.

The pilot programme which ran in 2023/24 engaged roughly 1,400 schools, onboarded 50 local teachers into the programme from 30 different schools, empowering them to not only learn about sustainability but how to build effective low waste programmes at their respective schools, and got the attention from our local Media with 14 news/coverage mentions. With RM45,000 (USD10,000) awarded to two three public school teachers, they built long-term projects at their respective schools which now serve as a model for future zero waste schools.

We closed this with a 2-week exhibition and a one-day showcase day, inviting over 1,000 people to learn about what has been achieved. The one-day showcase event was attended by GWP’s funders, influential decision-makers of corporate organisations, stakeholders, fellow non-profits, Selangor Education Department officers, and teachers from all over the Klang Valley. Attendees enjoyed two panel sessions on topics related to sustainability in Malaysia and were inspired by the sharing sessions from our seed-funded teachers.

Now, we’ve refined the programme from the pilot and are gearing up to launch Cohort 2.0, targeting 300 teachers across Malaysia.

The Green Wira Programme was created to ensure a better and cleaner world for our future generations. The idea of targeting teachers and early education schools (primary and secondary) was to cultivate the culture of sustainability from the get-go. We focus on education, empowerment and ultimately implementation of projects with measurable outcomes - serving as a model for future zero waste schools.

The programme’s education carries the 5R’s of zero waste throughout: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rot (a concept by Bea Johnson, Zero Waste Home). These principles are integrated into our Online Modules and physical workshops, making sure that assessments and proposals submitted by our teachers, will include these concepts too. The school headmasters are obliged to sign a document acknowledging their teachers’ participation in this programme as well to ensure there is a supportive environment and ecosystem at the school.

Once the teachers submit their proposal for a zero waste project at respective schools, 2-3 top proposals are chosen to be given seed funding. The goal of this seed funding is to make sure the projects implemented are able to sustain and be embedded into the school culture for years to come. For example, the Green Recycle House project sells Used Cooking Oil and the recyclables' income goes back into the space's maintenance.

Another big component from our pilot cohort is the sense of community that was built and is now being fostered in our Alumni chats. The teachers who join tend to have some sort of passion for sustainability and our planet and sometimes need that encouragement and support from likeminded peers, which is what we try to provide!

#education #zerowaste #schools

https://zerowastemalaysia.org/green-wira-programme/

https://www.instagram.com/greenwiraprogramme/

Aside from the education portion of the Green Wira Programme, we were able to measure impact and implementation data from the chosen seed-funded schools; 3 schools in our pilot cohort. These school projects greatly highlight the potential of our educators who are trained and onboarded into the programme.

For public Chinese school, SJKC Serdang Baru 2, the big issue their Headmaster, Teacher Leong (a graduate of the problem) chose to tackle was single-use plastics being served at the canteen. The alternative used was stainless steel containers in a reuse and return system. Data collection for this project is still ongoing but we’re seeing promising results from the prototype and discussion with canteen operators and students. This is a great opportunity for other public schools to learn about available alternatives that do not harm the environment!

In a public primary school, SK Telok Panglima Garang, Teacher Khuzaimah launched the Green Recycle House (GRH) project collects used cooking oil, mixed paper, mixed plastic, and food waste in stages in tandem with awareness-raising workshops. Based on the impact data collected via waste audits, the school’s amount of waste diverted from landfills more than doubled after the implementation of GRH. The availability of a safe and organised storage area also increased the amount of recyclables collected. The income generated from selling the recyclables and used cooking oil was given to canteen staff as recognition of their collection efforts and incentive to continue. The GRH serves as a learning knowledge centre for students and staff to learn that waste is not simply rubbish but can be turned into valuable resources if segregated properly.

One of the key criteria used to decide which schools are awarded the seed funding is also their ability to propose projects that are able to reduce waste and introduce nature-positive alternatives. Other criteria include clarity and depth of impact, duration of project, and readiness of the educator and school ecosystem to implement the initiative.

All our modules and content are in-line with mitigating detrimental effects to natural ecosystems through waste reduction approaches. This is highlighted in 2 of our seed-funded school projects that were developed over the course of this programme.

In secondary public school, SMK Taman Melawati, Teacher Rosmira championed energy efficiency implementation through the installation of an LED Ecosystem at two blocks, a rainwater harvesting system, and a 5R campaign. By May 2024, 180 LED lights were installed at Blocks C and D. Seven photocells were also installed on spotlights around the school. In the same month, a 1,200-litre tank was installed for rainwater harvesting. The water collected was used to water two gardens via a timed sprinkler system! The rainwater harvesting system is also used by teachers as an educational tool. One of the two gardens watered by this system is cared for by the school’s Special Education Programme students and contributes towards their education in agriculture. The success of the rainwater harvesting system has since inspired the school to build another using alternative funds.

In primary public school, SK Telok Panglima Garang, Cikgu Khuzaimah and her school started collecting food waste from the food preparation process in May 2024 and expanded the collection to student-generated food waste in June 2024 after raising awareness via a workshop. Part of the food waste collected was transformed into fertiliser via bokashi composting, the equipment for which was purchased with the seed fund. Turning food waste into nature’s gold - fertiliser, is one of the educative ways in which students of the school learn about how waste can be used for soil strengthening.

With so much knowledge and information about sustainability out there, the public often struggles with what’s true and what to consume. Teachers who happen to be incredibly busy people also struggle to decide what can be integrated into their lessons. In our educational material, we strive to bring real life concepts and examples that give practical advise on how teachers can include zero waste concepts in their respective lesson plans and school environment.

By partnering with multiple subject experts on concepts like design thinking and composting, who can bring relevant experience to our interactive webinars. Once teachers are equipped with this knowledge, we provide templates for them to turn ideas into practical proposals such as project management sheets and budget trackers. In the Green Wira Programme, it’s not just about learning but also what can happen next, which is why project management skills and concepts are also very important in achieving long term sustainable development.

Aside from our online course and online modules which allow for flexible learning, we pair this with physical workshops in our Green Wira Bootcamp, where expert speakers are invited to dive deeper into certain sustainability topics: Waste Management, Emotional Resilience, Budgeting and more. Group coaching was also provided where the participants could speak directly to those who will be judging their final proposals, getting practical feedback and listening to some of the challenges faced whilst coming up with their zero waste project ideas.

Throughout the programme, our content is available in two languages - English and Bahasa Malaysia, our national language for ease of communication and learning experience. Being a multicultural country, we have hopes to increase translation to more languages in the future as well.