Gecco
Champions for Change in the Early Years
GECCO is a registered charity, established to promote sustainability in Early Years Childcare and Education.
Advice, Support & Resources
Whether you own or run a nursery, are an early years teacher, or a parent or childminder, if you would like to become a more sustainable setting, environmentally, socially, financially, or ethically, you’ll find information here to help you make changes one step at a time.
There’s advice and ideas for adapting your day-to-day decisions and activities. Tips on making more sustainable choices when purchasing anything from vehicles to furniture, from cleaning materials to children’s toys. We publish research of interest, and articles on how plastic and air pollution, climate change and biodiversity are all things we can address in a childcare setting, for today’s children, todays’ nursery staff, and for those in the future. We must take action now and no action is too small.
Towards sustainable childcare and education
Cheryl Hadland, GECCO founder and Trustee, is also the Managing Director of Tops Day Nurseries and Aspire Training Team. Tops provides early childhood education and care (ECEC) to over 4,000 children that attend the 32 day nurseries, holiday clubs and Tops forest schools that she has developed across the south of England.
Sustainable growth is a huge part of Tops success; Cheryl is an outspoken advocate for sustainable business practice and education; environmental, social and financial. Through GECCO Cheryl and her team aim to share the knowledge, experience and lessons learned as they strive to provide more sustainable Early Years education and childcare in the UK.
Let’s Do It!
“If everyone makes small changes to everyday life we can make a significant difference between us. Everything we buy, everything we do, should be influenced by how our decisions and activities will impact on our environment. This is a journey that we are all on, we are bound to make mistakes, make wrong decisions, and to do things without thought. This website and the GECCO Facebook pages are for us all to share our learning and experiences and to help make the world a better place.”Cheryl Hadland
Washable Nappies: A Sustainable Future for Childcare
Virtual conference, 5th November 2021, aimed at childcare providers.
Recordings available.
Real Nappy Campaign
Encouraging awareness about real nappies, enabling their use in nurseries, and inspiring parents to use them at home
Targeting Water Efficiency
It's about reducing the amount of water you waste, not restricting what you use - find out why & how...
Targeting Plastic Pollution
Early years can turn the tap off on plastic pollution - we offer some ideas and inspiration...
Climate Change is a serious matter.
Please ensure you take sensible precautions and follow advice to keep cool and comfortable and reduce health risks.
This is a timely reminder of the way climate change is impacting our daily lives. Press here to watch more.
OUR LATEST BLOG POSTS
Cllr Chris Wakefield MIH
Thanks for the present work that you are undertaking on plastics / glitter. You are inspirational.
Cllr Jane Kelly
It is so good to hear of the work that you are doing to reduce the use of plastic within your business, really well done! Also, of course, you are spreading the word about it which is equally important.
I completely agree with you that this needs to be done far more widely to make a real difference, but each initiative mounts up to produce a fantastic result.
A worthy listen for everyone. In this podcast, they celebrate how young children can discover the wonder of their whole world and adopt actions that care for it. Wendy Compson, champion for all things ecological, talks with Sarah, principal of Norwich Montessori Nursery, about their experiences working towards OMEP Sustainable Citizenship awards.
GECCO RESOURCES
Green Rate Relief - 01 April 2022 To 31 March 2035