2A Sample Letter to School Community

TOP TIP: Modify this letter to make it relevant to the local school community! For example, why has this challenge been taken on? Why is it important to the school?

Dear School Community,                                                                          

We’ve decided to take on an exciting challenge this school year – to minimise (and even eliminate) single-use plastics (SUP) on campus.

Why are we doing this? The attached Introduction – The Challenge [Attach information sheet to this letter] outlines the problem and explains why we are taking on this challenge.

What does this mean?   We will soon be evaluating the types and amounts of plastic we are using as a school community. This on-campus audit will help narrow down and identify the focus for this project. To complete this audit, we will be asking everyone in the school community to participate.

We are holding a community meeting to answer your questions, hear your ideas and your suggestions. [Enter date and time]. [Guidance for this meeting can be found in Module 2.2: GUIDED COMMUNITY MEETING].

Parents: Your engagement can help make this project a success. We will provide more details how to prepare your kids for the upcoming changes and run a workshop with ideas and creative solutions to economically minimise plastic waste at home- along with some other exciting challenges. [Guidance for this workshop can be found in Module 3.2: PLASTIC-FREE LIVING WORKSHOP).

The PTA can help by offering practical suggestions and information on how we can integrate waste considerations into current PTA events. We would appreciate PTA members sitting in on some EcoCrew meetings to be closer to the planning of PTA-led events. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer for the PTA to work specifically on this issue, please contact [Enter name and contact information].

Students are encouraged to become a part of this movement by joining the EcoCrew, where they can be a part of running campaigns, solving specific plastic-related problems on-campus and encouraging fellow students to participate in this school-wide project.  We also need students to support the project as volunteers for PFC projects, events, research, etc.