Environmental education is a key part of Hug It Forward. Our Environmental Education Director helps facilitate open discussions about the avoided topic of trash in a way that allows its participants, primarily the community’s students, the collective responsibility and power they need to create a better local and global world.
Our work engages students from kindergarten through sixth grade in creative activities designed to be able to expose them to the ideas of ‘recycle, reduce and re-use’ as they pertain to the broader conversation of improving trash management habits.
Creating eco-bricks, an introduction to composting, creating upcycled crafts, planting trees and designing trash containers are just some of the activities communities take part in.
Hug It Forward’s environmental education program allows children to learn about the differences between organic and inorganic trash, along with the major risks of plastic in their environment and in the world. These lessons open the door for discussions around other major environmental issues facing communities across Guatemala and the world, such as deforestation, mining, and the pollution of air and waterways.
Environmental conversations create a space to expose youth to questions around social justice, as well as a means to unite young people across communities in their own backyards and in other countries. We believe in youth empowerment through informational dialogue and the fostering of environmentally related discussions.
The photos below are from some of the community projects we do during the construction process.
