A petition has been launched by secondary school student Diogo Baptista which aims to push schools to act in a more environmentally aware way.

“The idea started when I was in a history class and the teacher was distributing a big bunch of paper”, Diogo explained, “and I joked with a classmate that they would be more responsible if they had to plant a tree for every 10 sheets of paper they printed”. The teacher overheard him, suggested it was actually a good idea and upon returning home, googling about petitions and speaking with some of the other faculty members, launched petition 1875, which among other things aims to create a label or badge that schools can attain by achieving certain “green” standards.

While Diogo is hopeful that they can reach the 4500 signatures required to have the matter discussed in the Chamber of Deputies, the main thing he hopes people take from the effort is that the small changes people make in schools can have a big impact and that there does not have to be a government mandate in order make these changes.

With thousands of students attending school every day, using less printouts, turning off lights, switching to renewable energy sources and offering water dispensers so students can refill their water bottles are small achievable aims that can make a big difference.

Sign the petition here: https://www.petitiounen.lu/en/petition/1875?cHash=dc26b3aeca52687a0c2b8fbcade888fc

Listen to the interview in full here: