Our Green Commitments

We recognise that our world is in a climate crisis.  With our youngest children at the heart of all our work, it is our responsibility to find new ways of working that can reduce our impact on the planet and reduce our carbon emissions.   

Starcatchers’ activities should contribute to children having a greener, healthier environment to grow up in. 

At Starcatchers we are committed to monitoring, managing and minimising our environmental impact. We are delighted to be a member of Creative Carbon Scotland’s  Green Arts Initiative , a growing networked community of 220 cultural organisations committed to developing a greener arts sector throughout Scotland.

Small steps to a greener future

Make, recycle & reuse

Upcycling and DIY is a great way to repurpose and reuse your old stuff. It’s a lovely way to get creative that doesn’t cost a fortune, and is great for the environment. Learn more about Upcycling with Zero Waste Scotland. 

If you’re not feeling confident with upcycling your old furniture, you can take it to a repair café:

If you’re looking to do some crafty projects, you can buy materials from scrap stores or charity shops, and hire tools from local tool libraries:

Scrapstores

Scrapstores are a fantastic resource for local communities supplying items that would otherwise be thrown away and uses them for art and craft projects:

Tool Libraries

Tool libraries work just like a normal library, but you can borrow tools and equipment instead. Save money by borrowing tools for those DIY jobs instead of buying them.  All tools are mainly received by donation, they are then repaired and PAT tested for safety ready to be borrowed and saved from going to landfill.

Looking for toys for your wee one? Try local toy libraries!

Instead of buying the latest new toy, you can borrow them from a local toy library instead! All toy libraries have a range of toys for different ages and stages, and most toy libraries offer on-site activity groups too:

Organisations

There are lots of organisations working to create a more circular economy. Take a look at some of them below:

Wee Inspirations

All our Wee Inspirations activity ideas, require little or no resources! Here are a few good examples to try: 

  • How to Build a Tin Can Drum

    The point of a tin can drum is to reuse old recycling to make an instrument that has loads of different sounds for wee ones to explore.

  • Ice Surprise

    Take some plastic tubs, food colouring or paint, and a selection of different things to 'hide': ribbons, small plastic toys, leaves and flowers - anything that can be frozen in the coloured water and 'found' again as the chunks of ice melt.

  • You’ve Been Framed

    Create a piece of art by laying out natural materials (leaves, sticks, stones etc) in a frame on the ground. The frame can be made of sticks, tape, anything that that helps focus the eye.

  • Secret Sensory Dens

    Den-making is a fantastic form of imaginative play. A den can, after all, be anything! After you build your den, secretly add objects with a variety of textures, weights and shapes for your wee one to discover… Who left them there?!

  • Groovy Gardens

    Combine gardening, movement and music all together by creating a planting shaker. Place some seeds in a compostable plant pot with some large holes in the bottom and get shaking!

Food waste 

Wondering what to do with all that left-over food from your Sunday lunch? According to Zero Waste Scotland,

“Throwing good food away costs the average person in Scotland around £200 a year, and the average household £460.”

Take a look at Love Food Hate Waste’s website for lots of recipes, tips and tricks for you to try at home to help you save money on your shopping bills and it’s better for the environment. 

Save Energy

Turning off appliances round the house, won’t only help the planet, but it will save you money too. According to Greener Scotland,  

“Turning off unnecessary lights could save you up to £13 a year in electricity costs. It would also save up to 50kg of CO2, that’s enough to fill 100 wheelie bins every year.”  

 Find out more here: http://www.cleanerscotland.org/home-energy/how-to-save-energy-at-home 

Public Transport 

Walking, cycling, taking public transport or car–sharing are very simple ways to help protect the planet.  

Repair old bikes:

Share your ideas with us! 

We believe that sharing ideas is an amazing way to combat climate change. As an organisation we have learnt so much by talking with other organisations, families, artists and early years practitioners. We are always looking for ways to make our organisation greener, so if you have any suggestions, please contact our green champion Natalie Gibson.