Over the past months, IL4SH schools have conducted experiential labs — practical sustainability activities that connect classroom learning with household realities.
One particularly inspiring example comes from a partner school in Germany, where students explored a simple but powerful question:
How sustainable is the way we wash our clothes?
Starting with Everyday Curiosity
Laundry is a routine activity in almost every household. Clothes need to be clean — but how much energy, water and detergent do we actually use?
Instead of discussing this only in theory, the students decided to investigate it directly.
Their lab focused on two aspects:
- Using self-made detergent instead of conventional products.
- Observing electricity consumption when washing at lower temperatures.
From Observation to Insight
Students worked together with their families to:
- produce simple, environmentally friendly detergent,
- compare washing temperatures,
- observe energy use,
- and evaluate the results — including cleanliness of clothes.
The findings were encouraging.
Washing at lower temperatures significantly reduced electricity consumption — while clothes remained just as clean. The homemade detergent also proved effective, reducing chemical input and packaging waste.
As one student reflected, “I never thought about how much energy our washing machine uses. When we tested lower temperatures, I was surprised that the clothes were just as clean.”
Another participant added, “It was interesting to compare what we learned at school with how my grandmother used to wash.”
Small adjustments, measurable impact.
Intergenerational Learning in Action
The project did more than generate data.
It sparked conversations at home:
- Parents questioned long-established habits.
- Grandparents shared memories of earlier resource-saving practices.
- Students became facilitators of reflection within their families.
The washing machine — an everyday appliance — became a space for intergenerational dialogue.
Why This Matters
Laundry may seem like a minor topic in the broader climate debate. But household energy use is a substantial contributor to environmental impact. Heating water for washing is energy-intensive — and small behavioural changes can accumulate over time.
The experiential lab showed that sustainability does not require radical lifestyle shifts. Sometimes it requires awareness, experimentation and willingness to try something different.
From One Lab to Many
The German school’s washing project is just one example among many experiential labs carried out within IL4SH schools. Across the partnership, students have explored energy use, fast fashion, and consumption patterns — always connecting learning with household practice.
What unites these labs is a shared principle:
Sustainability becomes meaningful when it is tested in real life.
As the project moves forward, these practical experiences continue to inform our Virtual Toolkit and strengthen the intergenerational approach at the heart of IL4SH.
Because sustainable change is not abstract. It is woven into everyday routines — even into something as simple as doing the laundry.