One of our main aims when it comes to this project is spreading awareness. With this in mind, we visited two schools in Bucharest to introduce young students to the world of sustainability. We spoke to classes from 5th to 7th grade, tailoring our presentations to spark curiosity and make complex topics accessible.
The presentation was all about what MI-NUS was created for. We talked about the following:
Who We Are
Firstly, we walked them through our organization’s website, explaining our mission and how students their age can get involved in sustainability efforts.
The Science Behind It All
We started with the basics: the layers of the atmosphere, what greenhouse gases are, and how they contribute to climate change. From there, we explained what a carbon footprint actually is and why it matters in our daily lives.
Our Carbon Footprint Calculator
We introduced the students to our app and website, which allows anyone to measure their personal carbon footprint. The kids were excited to see how everyday choices — transportation, food, energy use — all add up and many were amazed by the number they got.
The Robo-minus
One of the highlights was presenting our robot prototype designed to automatically sort waste. The concept of a machine that can “think” about recycling captured their imagination and led to plenty of questions.
From Audience to Innovators: The Creative Activity
After each presentation, we didn’t want the students to simply walk away as passive listeners — we wanted them to become thinkers and problem-solvers on their own. Therefore, we handed out sheets of paper and gave each class a simple challenge: “come up with your own idea for a more sustainable world”. They could draw it, write it, or both. No wrong answers. No limits. The results were remarkable. With their minds at work, they came up with creative ideas like: a wardrobe that recycles clothing, enforcing recycling in sports, and even robotic pigeons that collect trash.
