Key messages:

1. Environmental education has been proven to be a viable, sustainable solution with lower costs than technological and scientific solutions for addressing plastic pollution.

2. Environmental education activities implemented in schools through the project have positively changed the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of students and university students.

3. Environmental education, especially nature-based education at the primary level, is the first step in solving the planet’s environmental problems, providing a promising solution to reduce plastic pollution among young people.

4. Environmental education needs to be a regular activity in the formal teaching programs of secondary and higher education levels, through subjects, integrated subjects, and green school models.

5. To ensure the sustainable and long-term implementation of environmental education activities in schools, the Ministry of Education and Training needs to issue policies to encourage, support, and create a legal framework for schools (initially piloted at the elementary level) to implement environmental education activities within the official curriculum, implement green school models using a zero-waste approach, coordinate regular budget sources, and engage in public-private partnerships.