LED 'light bulbs' are now available for really all lamps, even with pleasantly warm light colors. Also, think about the lights outside - are they LED as well?

Motion detectors make sense in all rooms including outdoor areas, where we potentially let the light burn for too long, for example in the hallway, basement, garage, etc. Of course, it is important that the light does not stay on for too long.

Standby electricity consumption is often admonished and extrapolated. For example, if a TV consumes 5 watts in standby, that is 120 watt hours (Wh) per day, i.e. about one-eighth of a kilowatt hour, which costs about 35 cents. Schools can easily calculate for themselves what savings potential all their computers, copiers and interactive boards etc. have if they do without standby.

Modern lamps require little electricity, but all in all it is worthwhile not to let them burn unnecessarily, for example when we are not in the room for a long time. Corridors, toilet rooms, basements often have the lights on unnecessarily. In some areas, schools also have the lights on too long or too early.

Air conditioning systems are also gaining in importance in temperate latitudes. Intelligent construction and ventilation and the use of thermal protection roller blinds can avoid these power guzzlers. In warm regions, a corresponding education of the guests can take place. Often a fan is also useful.

Intelligent ventilation does not mean too late and not too long. It is too late when we get tired when we get tired with stale air, get headaches and the humidity becomes too high. It is too long if the air has already been exchanged and is cool, but we also ventilate the materials (walls, furniture) for even longer. Heat ultimately means that things or air vibrate. If the air is exchanged, but the objects and walls are still vibrating, the fresh air is quickly heated. If the walls also get cold, mold can form on them and we need expensive heating energy to get everything vibrating again. By the way, CO2 measuring devices help to ventilate in good time and not for too long. However, these should not be a useless gadget, but perhaps used for practice one after the other in the rooms and should also be lent out. A nice game is the competition to see how good the sense of the people in the room is to ventilate in time and not too long. Schools in particular have the potential to keep the doors in the entrance area not too wide and not too long.

Unlike the vegan diet, a vegetarian diet can also include milk, cheese or eggs. Vegetarian days are healthy, mean less animal husbandry and thus less consumption of land and water. People in the industrialized world consume more than three times more animal products, which according to the EAT-Lancet Commission would be healthy for us and the planet. We don't have to become vegans or vegetarians right away, but maybe just flexitarians.

Fortunately, tap water has long been a trend. Schools have drinking water dispensers and students have their drinking bottles with them, and managers also bring their drinking bottles to workshops. Many children are not even used to the unhealthy sugar drinks. Tap water is more strictly controlled than bottled beverages and saves a lot of energy and packaging. Schools can set up water dispensers - if necessary, also work with filters, for example to remove chlorine odors.

Saving paper helps to protect forests - recycling paper also ultimately means more demand for fresh pulp from trees. We don't even need to print out a lot of things, but can save them on devices that we already have. Digital forms should become more and more popular for internal processes but also for dialogue with students. On the one hand. On the other hand, studies currently differ as to whether complete digitization of teaching or its materials leads to better performance.

Garbage collection as an event also for the clubs with subsequent meeting, possibly sponsored by the local economy, helps to get nature clean and to raise awareness. Companies can sponsor or participate as a team.

Sidewalks can be kept mechanically or by flames weed-free or the herb can also grow sometimes. The beds can be kept mechanically herb-free or laid out from the outset in such a way that herb does not matter. Pesticides are one of the main causes of species extinction and water pollution.

When we think of fair trade, we usually think of the label of the same name - which is no longer in disrepute. But there are also other labels - some do more greenwashing, but some try to do it better. Fair is not always the same as organic and organic is not always fair (but some labels combine both). The significance is immense: fair working conditions in the world ensure less migration, more climate protection and a more peaceful world. The background to chocolate and the connection between child slavery (!) and the common products from Nutella to children's chocolate to the Mars bar is extremely remarkable: https://www.aktiv-gegen-kinderarbeit.de/2020/07/fuer-unsere-schokolade-werden-kinder-in-westafrika-entfuehrt/ Schools can therefore be pioneers for a better world in the canteens, kiosks or in school uniforms or hand-sewn football.

At first glance, schools are denied this step - they have to remain politically neutral and can actually only indirectly motivate and tolerate students to participate if they participate in demonstrations and not in class.

Societies must take in refugees - no matter how many there are. A distinction must be made between this and the number of those whom we can also integrate into our society in the long term and, with a view to our economy and retirement provision or demographic change. A municipality should actively lead the way and help refugees, take them in and also invite citizens to help, donate and meet the people. Refugees can then also help to help refugees. Linguistically, English is sometimes the lowest common denominator, which can also be chosen in companies. So far as legal, we should help these people. Schools are usually already doing a lot here - integrating refugee children and offering additional language courses. In detail, there are many other great solutions for group work, sponsorships or even voluntary activities in the afternoon, for example for the integration of the other members of the refugee families.

Cultural promotion can take place in all facets - from young people who make music to exhibitions to the care of traditional festivals.

Many schools organize charity runs, charity campaigns (Advent markets) etc. or/and they have partnerships with schools in developing countries. Donations have a double effect - they help the recipients and they reduce the consumption of the givers.

This concerns, for example, any school T-shirts, caps or hoodies. Globally, conventional cotton is an environmental problem due to the use of pesticides and high water consumption. In addition, the textile factories poison entire rivers and exploit people during conventional dyeing. In addition to organic cotton, there are other natural fibres that sometimes cause much less damage to the environment. In the case of virgin wool, it is important to pay attention to the certification, which excludes animal suffering. By the way, there is now also outdoor clothing made of densely woven organic cotton as an alternative to plastic fibers. Plastic fibers also always allow microplastics to enter wastewater during washing and microplastics in the environment may lead to multi-resistant superbugs - a long story. In terms of points for clothing, if you don't buy conventional cotton, but choose recycled and organic cotton, you can give yourself a full 3 points for both. By the way, organic is also possible for curtains, tablecloths and bed linen!!

Leaf vacuums and blowsers are even worse than the idea of mowing small lawns with a large lawn mowing tractor at all and then for hours. Boys with toys. The leaf vacuums and blowers emit noise and ultrafine particles and harm the soil organisms more than rakes or brooms.

Many devices from vacuum cleaners to cordless screwdrivers to TVs are amazingly inexpensive today. Relying on valuable devices that last a long time, or even buying used devices, helps to save raw materials and energy. This means that the caretaker's office can also buy refurbished.

Unfortunately, many devices can no longer be repaired at all, for example if the control unit breaks down from the washing machine and costs more than a new washing machine. And yet there are workshops that also repair mobile phones, washing machines, lawn mowers, etc. - and even if it is as expensive as a new device, it is the good feeling of having done something for a better world again.

This does not mean the skate track or the artificial turf sports field, but motor sports, skiing on artificially snowed slopes, kiting in bird sanctuaries, sailing boats with biocides on the underwater hull, golfing with high water and pesticide use, quad bike rides in nature, parachuting, etc. Of course, these hobbies are fun, which is why it is rewarded if we actively choose the more environmentally friendly alternatives here and thus achieve a change in thinking among others.