At Yuverta in The Netherlands it is a custom that our graduates are given a flag of Yuverta to show off that they have graduated.Of course our flags are made of reclycled materials and they have to bring it back. Unfortunately they often end up in the attic or worse, in the garbage bin.
The school in Nederweert had the genius idea to ask for a deposit. Dutch people are very used to pay a deposit for e.g. plastic bottles at a supermarket, but to pay a deposit when you are given a graduation flag is completely new. But it worked! 95% of the graduates brought their flag back, only 3 flags are missing. This means that we do not have to produce new flags for next years graduates. Very sustainable and a fun example to communicate in order to show that sustainability is important to us.
At Yuverta in The Netherlands Sustainability is one of the core values. We have written a policy with goals we want to achieve within a few years. One of our board members is responsible for achieving these goals. We also have a few dedicated colleagues to work on sustainability projects, to communicate internally and to find and collect sustainable ambassadors within Yuverta. They have developed a very nice idea, which is easy to copy to your organisation!
At our intranet our sustainability collegues have their own pages to inform and inspire others. They have made a sustainability calendar for every month of this year. Every month has a theme, which has a connection with one of the adopted SDG’s.
E.g. the theme of September is zero waste. This month they share tips, they share educational materials for our teachers and they challenge their collegues to change their habits towards sustainability. For example this month: don’t use paper cups, but use a mug or a glass.
They organise a ‘GreenTalk’ every month with one of our collegues. A 2 minute talk (video) about the sustainable impact he or she makes. It is very nice to hear collegues talk about their way of living, their passion for educating others on sustainability, and simply share their knowledge with others. You can find them on YouTube. Youtube offers the possibility to change the language of the subtitles (in screen you find a gear wheel).
This is a print screen of our intranet pages on sustainability with many news items and information about our sustainability strategy. On the right you can see blue tiles on several subjects. Links to our own sustainable calendar, SDG Netherlands, a Dutch initiative which is called Together for Biodiversity, a nature organisation, and several websites where you can find educational materials and projects.
