My Social Action Project

27 October 2023

There is nothing more rewarding than wanting to make a difference. My social action project the recycle bee's was a project that allowed for change and to keep the school environment clean.

The effectiveness of recycle bee's was aimed at allowing learners to want to make a difference and to improve their school community. It was focused on learners learning about recycling and the importance of it and why we need to recycle. By being in a school environment we are all exposed to paper as it something we use everyday. Plastic which we use during break that includes our bottles , yoghurts and sandwich bags. I focused on only two recyclable materials paper and plastic. I feel that the project was extremely effective as it was put into the teachers hands to want to take part in my social action project. In the beginning when we went around to the classes to introduce our project the recycle bee's everyone was eager to want to make a difference and clean their school environment. I wanted to create something fun for learners to want to take part in and that is why I made use of cardboard boxes for the recyclable materials. Learners needed to be creative and decorate their boxes. When explaining to the learners what is required of them a lot of the learners did not know where the recycling bins were. It was evident that this project would be effective as learners could now have an understanding and be made aware of where to recycle. As weeks went on I felt that the teachers lost interest in wanting to make a difference. Weekly I would go around to remind teachers of the recycling project as the kids were overly excited. The learners would often pick up litter at break and put it into their cardboard boxes which showed the project was effective.

When it became time to evaluate their creativeness a lot of the foundation phase teachers did not take part in it or left the box for decorating last minute. I found this is extremely disappointing because as a person you would want to make a change and benefit your community and show learners that making a difference matters. Where the recycling took place I allocated specific bins for plastic and paper which made it easier for the learners to see. In terms of emptying the bins quick enough I felt that the bins were overly full which made it harder to recycle as they were not getting emptied quick enough. This was also due to learners not listening to the rules of only recycling items from school not home. Often when I went to check the recycling bins the ground staff would confuse them and not put the bins out with the stickers which was allocated. This was frustrating as we had countless meetings and how it will work. One thing that really stood out for me is how the principal was not aware of recycling and where it was allocated in the school. When addressing my concern of it is not being safe for learners to recycle in the allocated area I suggested the recycle bins get moved to the front of the area which would be more effective going forward.

In terms of teachers tallying how many boxes were recycled I felt that teachers were not being accurate which was a learning experience for me. However the impact on the school environment was impeccable as it was clean and learners really did try their best which showed in them wanting to make recycle bee's effective. In terms of the cardboard boxes long term I feel the school could provide dustbins in the classrooms that will be more sustainable as it was just temporary. I learnt quickly that the cardboard boxes will not be effective as it was harder for the learners to carry when it became heavy or when it was wet from juice boxes it became easily damaged. But all in all I felt that it was an effective project as it decrease the amount of litter and learners had a better understanding of recycling and how to implement it into their daily lives.

Service learning has changed me personally as it allowed for me to focus on wanting to make a difference. Especially in making real world issues part of education it allowed for me to think out the box on ways recycling can be effective for the school. Personally it helped me stick to my values and the purpose I require of wanting to give back. In a personal capacity it helped me to develop leadership skills by being proud of what I stand by and advocating for recycling. It helped me to problem solve , time management and develop my communication skills. It helped me to understand resilience and perseverance by overcoming challenges experienced. It also gave me a sense of fulfilment in terms of wanting to make a positive impact it helped me to understand when you give back or offer a helping hand it provides happiness and being content.

Service learning has developed me professionally by developing the knowledge of why recycling is important and what it can do for a community. Secondly it helps you develop team management skills , leadership skill and communication skills. Which was achieved by working hand in hand with the principal and the other member part of the social action project. By this it helped me to have different recommendations and be considerate if their perspectives and the opportunties it may provide in the long run.It helps you to conduct yourself in a professional manner. it also allowed for me to be adaptable to different ideas which helps me professionally being able to adapt to different environments.

The benefit of my social action project the recycle bee's to the school is to provide a long term solution in being able to decrease litter and being able to keep their school environment clean going forward. This project is extremely sustainable but it is in the hands of the school to want to keep it up going forward. If the school keeps it up it creates social awareness of recycling and reduces pollution and conserving resources. To further add to the benefit it teaches learners to make a positive impact on their environment and understanding the importance of waste reduction. Lastly it creates environmental responsibility in students and creates an example for the communities around the school as the school commits to a sustainable future in terms of recycling.