Why Gardening in Schools?
Human beings are increasing exponentially and consuming and destroying natural resources; It is increasingly disrupting and destroying the balance and cycles of the world. Extraordinary disasters that are increasingly occurring in nature are a result of the damage we are causing to nature and are also a warning. As humanity, we are moving on the wrong path and we have begun to experience the damages of this mistake. Either we will transform towards a sustainable understanding of life that preserves the balance and cycles of nature; or difficult days await us, the new generations.
Rather than realizing the damage we are causing to nature and contributing to the growth of the problem; We focus on being a solution, on what we can, on what we can do. As individuals, we can do things that will primarily benefit ourselves, but also benefit nature and society. If more people start doing it, we can turn the problem into a solution.
It is important for future youth and young people to be informed and have the skills to understand the change taking place in nature and save their own future.
How?
As much as we can, we can carry out work that will benefit both ourselves and others. We want to support each other, be united and show that a sustainable understanding of life is possible without destroying nature by creating successful examples together.
Gardening is the first and most important work that we can access, providing many benefits. We want to establish gardens in schools.
In the city, gardening can be done on balconies, terraces, even on concrete, and some natural food can be produced. Thanks to gardening:
You start to know the land.
You produce living, fertile soil.
You learn how to grow plants in living soil and protect plants from diseases/pests naturally.
You produce some natural food. You learn to protect these products and turn them into value-added products. Most importantly, you learn to buy and store seeds.
You learn the importance of water, you learn to hold water.
Waste is recycled: school organic kitchen waste, mowed grass, branches, animal feces, etc. are mixed and turned into composted manure. Compost is essential for the abundance of gardens.
It is physical and mental health.
All of us design and maintain the gardens together. The skills of cooperation, working together, producing food, sharing and being a community develop.
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Gardens to be established in schools provide a good example and allow similar examples to be created:
Students organize their own family gardens, and families with gardens engage in similar activities.
They set an example for other schools.
They can enable local governments to undertake similar studies. For example, St. After Joseph High School completed its own garden, it established the 'Fenerbahçe Park Community Garden' together with Kadıköy Municipality. Community gardens can be established locally where local people produce their own natural food.
The positive environment that starts with gardening activities can also create opportunities for the transformation of schools into more sustainable campuses. Among the possibilities:
Collecting water from school roofs and irrigating the school's green land.
Producing hot water from the sun with solar collectors.
Generating electricity from the sun with solar PV systems.
Savings in electricity consumption with LED lighting.
When a new building is required, construction of more economical and healthier buildings with natural building materials and design.
If schools have large lands;
Production of some food needed by the school kitchen with larger gardens,
By establishing a food forest in these lands, it may be possible to revitalize the natural ecosystem, to carry out useful work against climate change by accumulating carbon in the air in plant bodies, and to provide natural food in significant volumes.
It is possible to design school roofs to either produce energy from the sun, or to establish gardens on the roofs to produce food while also naturally insulating the roofs.
If you, as a school, would like to take part in similar studies, let us know: