Logos and labelling are crucial to our understanding of the ethical and environmental impact of the products we buy.
New educational resources have been rolled out through The Co-operative’s Green Schools Revolution programme. The new materials will help schools to teach primary and secondary pupils about the organisations behind ethical logos, take a closer look at supply chains and understand the ethical impact of decisions that are made by consumers.
The materials are aimed at Key Stages 2 and 3 (ages 7 -14) and will help students learn about the ethical and environmental messages associated with the logos found on common household products and foods, such as Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Fairtrade, Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and Cruelty Free International.
An ideas bank of resources is available for teachers to dive into and add to planned activities. It also includes ‘Supermarket Quest’, a computer game where students can go on an ethical shopping spree to support their learning about which products might use ethical logos.
The Green Schools Revolution’s ethical logos module is available online to all UK primary and secondary schools who sign up to The Co-operative’s free sustainability education programme at www.greenschools.coop.
Sarah Klueter, Senior Community Investment Manager at the Co-operative Group, said: "Our Green Schools Revolution programme is already giving more than one million pupils the chance to learn about saving water, renewable energy, healthy living, biodiversity, Fairtrade and co-operative enterprise.
We are really excited to be able to expand on the materials already available to teachers online. Our new ethical logos resources provide students with the knowledge of how to influence the way in which companies treat the environment and the people who make our food."
All Green Schools Revolution schools across the country have access to a wide range of free cross-curricular classroom resources and activities, giving young people and teachers the tools to inspire change in their schools, homes and local communities.
The Co-operative also offers schools free, fun and educational visits to its own wind farm to see renewable energy in action and to eight Co-operative farms to see first hand how food grows, how to cook it and also how to protect and conserve local wildlife.
For further information, or to find out how to join The Co-operative’s Green Schools Revolution, visit www.greenschools.coop.