Turkish teachers and musicians champion environmental awareness with theater and song

In Sakarya, Turkish language teacher Rahime Şener transformed a middle‑school drama project into an environmental‑education programme. Over six months her class created stage costumes and props from waste items such as PET bottle caps, egg cartons and plastic bags, turning discarded material into a showcase of zero‑waste practices. The students performed a play and prepared an exhibition, saying, “Nothing we see as trash is actually trash.”

Meanwhile, Dr Harun Keskin and Dr Çağrı Başbuğ of Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University won first prize in the SETAP Yeşil Atölye National Children’s Song Competition. Their winning composition, “Çöpü Doğaya Atma Çöpü Kovaya At,” highlighted climate change, zero‑waste and water conservation. The song was performed by school choirs and underscored municipal and university collaboration on environmental education.

Both initiatives illustrate how Turkish educators are using the arts—drama and music—to raise awareness of recycling, climate action and sustainable living among young people.