We hear the message from our learners: “Education is the foundation for environmental responsibility – educate us!”

More than 3000 learners at local schools are educated about environmental sustainability and engage in projects to eliminate waste and preserve natural resources through:

• Participation in community gardens, learning about composting and worm farms
• Recycling of waste on school property and learning about reuse of plastics and other goods
• Learning about biodiversity
• Learning how to save water
• Learning how to conserve and generate energy

Learners at participating schools take these activities home to the community and can then engage in their own home food gardens, composting and waste recycling activities, water and energy saving actions and awareness of alien and indigenous vegetation in their community.

Impact: 30 percent of the learners at these schools engage in their own home recycling and composting activities, water and energy saving actions and food gardens per annum.

• Curriculum Project

Thrive will soon be uploading our Curriculum to this website. It will be downloadable in PDF format for use by all schools.

• Enviro Audit and QuizArt Competition

At the beginning of every school year, the theme for the year is announced and participating Hout Bay schools begin the hard work on their compliance in the five areas of Water, Waste, Biodiversity, Food and Energy. They appoint Eco Heroes to champion the process.

During the second term, the competition is opened up to other schools outside of Hout Bay, who are invited to join in by participating in the Thrive EnviroArt and EnviroQuiz event, which takes place in the third term, giving visitor schools two terms to prepare.

Around mid-year, the Thrive enviro auditors visit the participating Hout Bay schools and audit their grounds and buildings, giving each a score.

During the third term, there is an exciting build-up to the Enviro Quiz and Enviro Art Event, held close to the spring holidays. This is an annual inter-schools event and all schools both inside and outside Hout Bay, who have entered the competition, then choose their teams and study prescribed articles. On the day of the event they compete in a quiz using this prescribed material. The Enviro Art component takes the same theme, and schools that enter this part of the competition must make an art project, either a one by two-meter wall piece or a moving art sculpture. They have about two terms to complete the art project.

The schools are scored on points gained in the Audit, the Quiz and the Art. The winning school is announced at the event and wins a getaway for their participating teams.

The theme for the next year is then announced at the EnviroArt EnviroQuiz event.