Can AISG and Sustainability Really Be Best Friends?

WRITTEN BY SHANAY S.

Can AISG and sustainability really be best friends? Integrating eco-friendly practices and a green curriculum is a proven method to not just protect the environment, but to also boost the sense of belonging, enhance student’s performance in class, and develop lifelong habits for a greener planet. Even though our school is following some eco-friendly techniques, we can increase them and strengthen the sense of community for students and staff.

Eco-friendly practices are daily actions that help the environment. A sustainable or green curriculum involves the topic of environment in the educational content in subjects. Incorporating them at AISG can without a doubt increase the sense of belonging for students, enhance class performance, and transform them into eco-friendly students.

Eco-friendly practices are done collaboratively. From reusing materials to planting trees, the shared missions create stronger connections among students. (NSHSS, 2023) It is a win-win because it is great for the environment and creates more positive relationships. After interviewing ninth graders in AISG, they truly believe that incorporating eco-friendly practices will create a better sense of belonging for students. Anushka. K from grade 9 said “I think it could enhance the sense of belonging for students, because people would be working on a positive impact together, making them feel more connected”. Lynn. K from grade 9 “When a school actively practices sustainability, it creates a shared purpose and values among students. This can enhance the sense of belonging, as everyone feels they are part of a community that cares about making a positive difference”.

Moreover, 9 out of 10 interviewed ninth graders admit that they want to increase their environmentally friendly actions even though they admit that they perform more harmful actions than eco-friendly practices. This shows that they want to become more sustainable but can’t because they are so used to their current lifestyle with many harmful actions. Therefore, incorporating eco-friendly practices in school can give them a daily routine to follow and potentially follow those eco-friendly practices outside the school.

Integrating eco-friendly practices in school doesn’t just shape daily habits for students; it shapes their minds and enhances their academic learning. (Hayandi, 2024) For example, in math, students can create waste audits and understand the dreadful statistics of landfill growth around the world. In science, students can create compost bins for the school’s food waste and learn about decomposition. This teaches them about how recycling nutrients can reduce landfills’ growth. A student in economics can learn about resource management in a business. All these skills based on eco-friendliness can not only teach students about the real-world implications of the environment, but it can easily help them adopt those eco-friendly skills and practices learnt in school, shaping the future into a much greener one.

The school has already incorporated some eco-friendly practices and programs. For example, the AISG cafeteria sells biodegradable packaging for food which protects the environment and sets out an ideal way of packaging food for students. A GCED called Heart 2 Heart kept a donation box where students are free to drop used clothes so the members of the Heart 2 Heart GCED can hand them out to the homeless. A Christmas tree made out of plastic bottles was created by students affiliated with the Honors Arts Society which taught them to transform recyclables into creative works. This teaches kids about how items can be reused efficiently rather than throwing them away and creating more landfills.

AISG can continue  adding and normalizing eco-friendly practices such recycling trash, reusing paper, having gardening projects, clubs to advocate for sustainability and zero waste, etc. Each subject should have environmental aspects like energy audit-making in math, eco-farming in biology, sculpting scrap pieces in visual arts, etc. Lastly, the school can fund on programs and activities that benefit the environment like community gardening, partnering with local farms to give them food waste for decomposition, and many more!

The goal for a greener AISG is also a goal for a more inclusive, intelligent and creative school community. By telling staff to include sustainability in student life and lessons, we are doing more than just protecting the environment; we are preparing students to connect more and create a greener future. Let us do it as a community to make sustainability a core element of an AISG student.