Service: An update on Eco-Schools

Due to scheduling conflicts, I’m solely a part of the Eco-Schools service group. To recap, Eco-Schools is a student-led global initiative, consisting of international schools. The Eco-Schools organization outlines a clear set of steps to help them become more sustainable and awards them the “Green Flag” in the process (certification showing sustainability). The steps are summarized in the following photo:

As seen in the above photo, there are 7 steps, ranging from simply forming a committee to producing an eco charter. As of right now, we have finished the first step, and formed two communities:

• Committee A: A small set of students who meet with Mr. Poulous every week. This committee serves to organize meetings, decide on our next steps, and our agenda to discuss with our larger community (Committee B).
• Committee B: A large group, consisting of not only students but also teachers, parents, and other staff. This committee serves to brainstorm ideas and help provide a more complete perspective of the school.

I’m a member of Committee A, and previously worked on organizing and forming the larger Committee B. Right now, we are on the second step, Carry Out An Environmental Review. We have had a bigger meeting with both committees to discuss what we should include in our Audit, which can be seen in the screenshot of the Padlet below:

 

As seen above, we generated plenty of ideas in the meeting. We are also in the process of making a Google Form that can be sent to the entire school for this audit. Thus, the meeting was a success.

Eco-Schools is an important initiative to reduce our carbon footprint and our negative impact on the environment, connecting to relevant issues such as global warming and pollution.