Nov 30 2016
Greening schools to make a difference in Australian children’s lives.
Australia’s Greenwall pioneer, Mark Paul horticulturist and founder of the PET Bottle Greenwall Project, is calling for recruits to make his school community project a nationwide program.
Our kids are our future and we need to educate them on how to look after the environment, better than we have, in order to provide a healthy living
space for generations to come. Our PET Bottle Greenwall Project is a great way to introduce sustainability into the curriculum and also get the kids and parents outdoors and interacting with plants and the environment.
Mark Paul horticulturist and founder of the PET Bottle Greenwall Project
Beyond the beauty of the end product, green outdoor settings have also been reported to appear to reduce ADHD symptoms in children across a wide range of individual, residential, and case characteristics.
Owned by the students, this project has had a powerful effect at a local level and provides a fun learning experience. School children are being educated about how to ‘reuse’ and ‘recycle’ products in order to make something that makes a difference to their environment. Also how to take cuttings and offsets, use media and learn the basics of horticulture.
Mark Paul horticulturist and founder of the PET Bottle Greenwall Project
About The PET Bottle Greenwall Project:
Each bottle greenwall utilises around 700 P.E.T bottles (5m x 2m greenwall) and other inorganic media that is recycled packaging waste. The plant collection is also left up to the children who are asked to bring in cuttings from their own gardens or those from their neighbourhood, making each planting palette truly unique.
Key elements of The Greenwall Company’s internationally patented design are incorporated into the PET bottle greenwalls in order to bring sustainability and amenity to their school grounds.
Mark has now implemented the project at a number of schools across Australia, and hopes to make it a worldwide initiative in the coming years.
How to get involved:
Teachers, parents, horticulturists or garden enthusiasts can register their interest in becoming a local representative by going to the initiatives facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PETBottleGreenwallProject/
Mark’s goal for the PET Bottle Greenwall Project in Australia is to secure representatives in each state as well as local areas. In 2017 he hopes the project will assist over 100 schools nationwide to take part in the program.
www.greenwall.com.au