Campaigns

Our curriculum-linked campaigns are the most popular feature of the Pod. They get the whole school working together and inspired to take action. They can also be led by students, which is an essential criterion for an Eco-School Award.

We have lots of resources to make taking part easy, fun, impactful and rewarding.

Switch Off Fortnight 2023

Switch Off Fortnight runs from 13-24 November 2023.

Our popular energy-saving campaign is back! We have an exciting competition for students, an energy-saving dashboard to help you track your savings and resources aplenty to support your campaign.

Taking part is easy – just sign up and download our resources to use during your campaign.

Switch Off Fortnight is a great way to help children understand why saving energy is important (for their pockets and the planet). But also, schools that have taken part in previous years have reduced their energy consumption by an average of 10%.

Join hundreds of other schools in saving energy and having fun – sign up today.

320 Schools/groups have already signed up
3 Local Authorities have already signed up
Take part!

Recycle to Read Toys

Recycle to Read is supporting development of a new toy rehoming and recycling programme that rewards schools and communities, with books and reading resources.

We are running trial collections of broken, hard plastic toys for recycling in selected Tesco stores in East and West Sussex between the 4 Sept 2023 and 4 Dec 2023, and are inviting schools with pupils aged 2 to 11 years of age in these areas to take part.

Families and friends of the schools participating in the trial, will be encouraged to rehome unwanted but usable toys by swapping them with friends, giving them away or taking them to charity shops or community groups. They will be asked to take any hard broken plastic toys to a local participating Tesco store for recycling.

Either of these actions can earn them a Planet Care Point for their chosen school. The 50 schools with the most points at the end of the trial (4 December 2023), will win book vouchers to spend on titles in the Harper Collins Recycle to Read Book Catalogue.

If your school is not in the trial area sign up now to register your interest and we’ll keep you updated on future trial locations and more details about how your community will be able to collect book rewards for you.

745 Schools/groups have already signed up
4 Local Authorities have already signed up
Take part!

Recycle to Read Batteries

Get book rewards for your school in return for recycling your batteries.

We’re calling on schools across the UK to collect used batteries for recycling!

Why?

  • More than 600 million batteries are thrown away in the UK each year!
  • Used batteries can leak harmful substances into the environment.
  • Rare and hard to mine metals are used in the production of batteries.

Did you know the recycling process can recover these metals, so that they can be made into new batteries and lots of other things!

Sign up to collect used household batteries and help teach children the importance of responsible consumption. Plus, you will get exclusive discounts on books, you could win book rewards for your school and we have pupil prizes to give away too!

249 Schools/groups have already signed up
1 Local Authorities have already signed up
Take part!

Recycle to Read Textiles

Get book rewards for your school in return for collecting textiles for recycling!

Recycle to Read is a fun and rewarding campaign for primary schools. It promotes care for the environment through reuse and recycling, whilst supporting children’s literacy.

Why sign up?

  • Your school will earn £400 worth of book vouchers for every tonne of textiles collected.
  • Your school will get an exclusive discount on a huge range of books at Harper Collins.
  • It’s a fantastic way to highlight the importance of responsible consumption and the role of recycling.
  • Collecting textiles for reuse and recycling, helps children feel empowered to make a positive difference.

Plus, we have lots of educational resources for you to download, which help children learn about the importance of reuse and recycling.

69 Schools/groups have already signed up
1 Local Authorities have already signed up
Take part!

What's Under Your Feet? 2023/24

Help scientists at the British Trust for Ornithology understand the relationship between climate, the availability of invertebrates and how this impacts UK bird numbers and their migration patterns.

It’s easy to take part and children will love being citizen scientists and working outside of the classroom. 

What do you need to do?

  1. Sign up to take part 
  2. Conduct a dig and soil/invertebrate survey in October, March and June*
  3. Upload your data to the Pod here 

Download all the resources you need, including; lesson plan, assembly, information pack and short instructional films. 

Find the Invertebrate Survey Recording Sheet here. 

*You can take part in any or all of the digs, but the scientists need as much data as possible.

340 Schools/groups have already signed up
1 Local Authorities have already signed up
Take part!

Waste Week 2024

Waste Week 2024 takes place 4-10 March 2024.

For our 2024 campaign we’re handing over the reins to you! Which aspect of waste do YOU want to focus on? Is there a particular problem area at school? Which area of waste saving could have the most impact?

Whether you’re interested in food waste and ideas for using up leftovers; plastic waste and how to get rid of hard-to-recycle plastics; or ideas for how to reduce your tech pile – we can help!

Sign up today to get everyone involved in cutting back on waste, and access our huge bank of waste and recycling resources.

43 Schools/groups have already signed up
1 Local Authorities have already signed up
Take part!