FUNDRAISING – Eco-friendly fundraising
Eco-friendly events
Second-hand sale One man’s trash is another man’s treasure! Organise the sale for a Saturday and give parents plenty of time to sort through their lofts, wardrobes and cupboards. Ask for donations to be brought to school in bags on the Friday afternoon, and allocate a sub-committee to sort
the items, separating them into: l Books, toys and games l Bric-a-brac l Men’s clothing l Ladies’ clothing l Children’s clothing
You may wish to put prices on goods, or you may want to give the buyers some discretion with rough pricing/recommended donations in place, e.g. books 20p, kids’ T-shirts £1. Allow space for your second-hand uniform stall.
Upcycle craft evening Collect unwanted goods from parents and local businesses, including fabric off-cuts. See what you can source and then build activities around it. If you have any crafty parents, rope them in to help. Nature is brilliant for this, too – there’s a lot you can do with a pinecone! Look at Pinterest for inspiration. Alternatively, invite attendees to bring their own items to upcycle, providing a range of decorative equipment with which they can transform their goods.
Printed products When selling printed products (visit
pta.co.uk/suppliers for recommended companies), go for items that will indirectly reduce waste in your school. Printed products such as reusable tote bags or water bottles will mean less use of plastic bags and bottles throughout your school.
Recycling schemes Popular PTA recycling schemes range from ink cartridges and textiles to DVDs and gadgets, so simply choose the one that’s right for your school. Once your PTA has registered with your chosen
scheme, set up a collection point and advertise in advance so parents can start sorting and saving their unwanted goods. Extend this to the local community with boxes in the library and doctor’s surgery. Visit
pta.co.uk/suppliers for recommended suppliers.
Swishing Give clothes a second chance at life and prevent them going to landfill with a clothes-swapping evening. The simplest swish is conducted on a ‘one for one’ basis. A voucher is issued to each guest with their number of items written on it, to be checked off at the end of the event. All items should be freshly laundered, ironed and in good repair. Charge a ‘per person’ admission fee to raise funds, and invite external stallholders to attend, selling beauty products, gifts or accessories. Charge them a fixed fee of £10-£25.
Used book swap Similar to a swish but on a smaller scale. Ask people to bring in their old books to swap with others, making money through an admission fee and refreshments. Sort the books into age groups and get children and adults involved.
Virtual balloon race Balloon races are a popular fundraiser for PTAs, but not for the environment. Balloons can scatter miles apart and litter a wide area of land, causing damage to animals and wildlife. Even ‘biodegradable’ balloons take years to decompose, meaning one spectacular moment has a huge impact. Instead, consider setting up a virtual balloon race with Rentaballoonrace (
rentaballoonrace.com) as a fun alternative. The website uses real website data and geographical positions to simulate as close as possible to reality what flight path your virtual balloon takes. Balloon sponsors can even decorate and alter their balloon as many times as they like prior to launch.
bags of sweets, but bear in mind that this does mean the nutritional values and allergy advice won’t be present on each item. Alternatively, research packaging that’s recyclable and provide a point where people can dispose of the packaging.
Really recycle It’s one thing to aim for recyclable
products when running an event, but another entirely to make sure people recycle them! Offer recycling bins at fairs with clear signage. Work with the school to see how they’re encouraging recycling and raising awareness. Make it fun and unmissable by creating bins with bright colours or funny faces.
Buy local Another way to lower the impact
of your event is to buy local. This can be everything from making sure fruit for your tuck shop is from the UK to buying meat from your local butcher and bread from your local baker. This keeps air miles low, as well as helping your PTA to build relationships with local companies.
Next steps… Remember that you don’t have to
implement all of this immediately – small steps will help your PTA ultimately become more eco- friendly, while still raising lots of money for the PTA. For further reading, websites such as WWF (
wwf.panda.org) and Earth Day Network (
earthday.org) offer advice and information on living green.
44 SPRING 2019
pta.co.uk
IMAGES: OLEGGANKO; CHEREMUHA; MAN AS THEP/
ISTOCKPHOTO.COM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
