How Sustainable is AISG?

Recently, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes (IPCC) released a report which predicted that unless drastic and substantial changes were undertaken, the Earth’s temperature would rise by 1.5° C. This would pose a problem because a rise in the Earth’s temperature above 1.5° C would prompt severe droughts, floods, a large scale poverty crisis, and scorching temperatures.

While the drastic changes that IPCC is calling for will not be possible unless binding policies are implemented from the top down through national organizations and governments, there is still a fair amount that we as individuals can do in our daily lives. Not only do sustainable policies have to be implemented at home, but those same policies also have to be followed at school.

Talking about sustainability at schools begs a few questions about our own school such as, is AISG truly a sustainable school? Does the school actively try to promote sustainability through its actions? And finally, how effective are the “sustainable” policies which have been implemented at AISG?

Many people have been vocal with their criticism regarding AISG’s relationship with sustainability, and their censure is justified. Students and teachers alike complain about a plethora of issues ranging from excessive printing and poorly implemented policies (such as the sporadic use of environmentally friendly straws, and bowls) to disposable eating utensils in both the café and the cafeteria, along with the overuse of air conditioners. Sure, our school has a recycling system and sustainable take-out boxes, but is that really enough? As a school that advertises itself as “The Premier International School in South China,” does our responsibility towards the environment really end at implementing a recycling system?

First and foremost, it’s important to acknowledge that AISG has implemented some sustainable measures such as recycling bins, waste-separating trash-cans, and incentives for bringing bowls from home. However many people argue that these measures are either not publicized enough, or are enforced poorly. Ms. Partee recounts that “[she] found the recycling bins by accident while walking around the main building.” Simran L, a sophomore, says, “The problem at AISG is that most of our policies regarding sustainability are implemented very badly.” She is mainly referring to the recycling and waste-separating bins which can occasionally be spotted around the school. She feels that although waste-separating trash cans can be seen around the school, people don’t use them properly. They regularly disregard the labels on the trash cans and dump their waste in whichever bin is closest to them. However, it can be argued that this might have more to do with the fact that some students are just lazy. This phenomenon isn’t unique to AISG, and in fact, can be seen on the streets of China. People are careless and tend to trash their waste wherever they find to be convenient. Rules aren’t followed, and perhaps this general apathy towards collective cleanliness and wellbeing is also affecting our student body. A question to think about is how can the implementation be improved? Perhaps better student education is required in the form of assemblies and lessons during advisory.

Recently, the cafeteria started a new initiative: bring your own bowl to school four times, and get a free drink. This was a fantastic way through which sustainable measures could be encouraged among the students. But, when asked, many claimed that they weren’t even aware of this new initiative! The cafeteria provides eco-friendly take-out boxes; however, for the soup noodles, plastic containers are used. Ms. Barga, an IB English teacher at AISG, says, “I recently learned about the ‘bring-a-bowl’ policy and while I believe that it’s a welcome step towards the right direction. I think that it wasn’t announced to the school, which may be why many people are unaware of it.” This new initiative wasn’t announced through the intercom or relayed through an e-mail, which explains lapse in communication. Mr. Tragert, the assistant principal at AISG, feels that “communication is tricky.” He says, “We could send a blast e-mail to everyone every day, but we can’t because we have to be selective with what we send out.” However, this begs the question: is sustainability not something of importance? Apparently not, because it seems that the school administration finds routine announcements from the Happiness Club of more significance. Aren’t sustainability and measures promoting it as important, if not more, than the barrage of announcements that we hear every day?

Many people also raise concerns regarding the abundance of printing which occurs at AISG. I’ve been in three international schools prior to attending AISG, and in all of those schools, printing was discouraged. People complain that the school provides a lot of software such as TEAMS through which worksheets or class requirements can be shared, yet teachers still choose to overprint. People also complain that their teachers require them to submit assignments both in paper and also through TEAMS and TurnItIn, which seems counter-intuitive. Maya T, a sophomore, says, “During the ‘The Way I See It’ research project, students were required to print their 4-6 page papers twice, once for peer-editing, and once for the final submission and then once again through TEAMS.” Wouldn’t submitting our electronic assignments through mechanisms such as TEAMS which leave zero paper waste be a smarter way to operate? Ms. Partee, one of the 10th-grade history teachers, agrees. “I made my students digitally submit their copies because it’s a more responsible way of doing it,” she says. Hopefully, more teachers will follow her path.

The café is also at the center of the debate. The most glaring grievance that people have with the café is its use of plastic straws. Paper straws are both cheap and easily available, and many find it hard to comprehend why they aren’t used more often. The café does use paper straws, but its relationship with them is quite unstable. Sometimes paper straws are available for two weeks at a stretch, yet most of the time they aren’t present and people are forced to use plastic straws. Along with that, lemon tea and pineapple soda are offered in plastic cups while tea, coffee, and soft-serve are given in paper bowls and cups. “The school should look into sustainable utensils because that’s an area where we lack a lot,” offers Chhavi K, a sophomore. Some even suggest that those who bring their own bottles to the cafe should get a discount. Ms. Barga also brings up the topic of plastic bottles. “I don’t understand why students bring plastic bottles when the school provides water filters,” she states. She believes that reusable water bottles should be a staple for all, and notes that Mr. Baier used to not allow students to use plastic bottles inside his classroom. “Perhaps a school-wide ban should be considered,” she states.

Chhavi K. also notes that students at AISG are apathetic. She feels that the environment seems like an “irrelevant thing to students at AISG because they don’t know the extent of the damage.” She further explains, “Whenever this issue is brought up, they reply with ‘I don’t care’ or ‘why do you care’.” This may have something to do with how little sustainability is advertised or promoted at this school. Apathy regarding sustainability is extremely common because most people operate with the mindset that “the problem has already advanced too far.” The notion that individual effort will not be meaningful is widespread, and it prohibits people from doing their part for the environment.

The issue of electricity is also brought up frequently. Students at AISG are fortunate enough to go to a school which has luxuries such as air conditioning and wifi. But are these over-used at AISG? Ms. Partee feels that electricity consumption is tricky to manage and is also important for a few reasons. She notes that many teachers use air conditioners in order to combat the poor air quality, and also to provide a comfortable learning environment for students. But could the use of air conditioners be reduced? “The air conditioners at AISG are not the most efficient, and we could definitely use them smarter,” admits Ms. Partee.

So, is our school sustainable? “No,” says Mr. Tragert frankly. “AISG is not the most sustainable school out there,” he admits, “but it’s certainly moving towards that direction.” He states that AISG has recently implemented many new measures, and will be using eco-friendly materials in the construction of the new buildings. He also notes how AISG’s practices have improved over the past few years. The leftover food from the cafeteria is now being donated to charity and is also being composted in order to ensure that nothing is wasted.

“The blame lies on everybody,” Mr. Tragert states. “What do students do when they use up their printing quota?” he asks. “They simply ask a friend for their card and keep printing without stopping to reflect.” In regards to printing, Mr. Tragert believes that the situation has improved drastically. “In the past, there would be times when teachers would print chapters upon chapters and past paper questions for review.” Teachers have become much better at using the resources offered, but Mr. Tragert stresses the fact that “printing cannot be eliminated.” Many studies and research papers show that learning from paper (which students can write and draw upon) is a much better learning tool compared to electronic tools. Mr. Tragert feels that in some ways teachers wouldn’t be doing their job if they just said, “Hey, here’s all this material up on TEAMS,” if they knew that students would learn better by using paper resources. He feels that paper is warranted because “AISG is in the business of school and with that comes paper.”

Mr. Tragert credits Roots and Shoots–Environment with spreading awareness and holding bake sales in order to raise money for their cause. “They’ve done a lot of great work,” he says. But he believes that sustainability is a topic of importance for the whole AISG community and encourages “more people to come up with solutions” and facilitate dialogue. In fact, Mr. Tragert mentions that a few students from middle school were the ones who came up with the idea of cardboard to-go containers. The recycling bins were implemented by the administration, and Sodexo came up with the ‘bring-a-bowl’ idea. Mr. Tragert feels that these are examples of “three different groups of people seeing the need, and realizing that we can do better.”

But what do we do? It’s easy to take the moral high ground and complain, but it’s harder to come up with concrete solutions. Some of the more obvious things to do are eliminating the use of plastic cutlery and utensils from both the café and the cafeteria, as well as regulating the use of the printer more strictly. Apart from that, it’s important to hold a discussion where ideas can be come up with collectively. A large number of students at AISG seem to be disconnected from what’s happening with the climate, which is why it’s essential to hold conversations regarding the importance of sustainability. Mulayne L, a junior, believes, “Roots and Shoots should hold more informative sessions apart from the fundraisers that it holds, and more posters should be put up around the school.”

Abby P, the Editor-in-Chief of The Beacon, wrote an article last year which was titled “Recycling At AISG: Does it Really Happen?.” In it, she addressed the concerns that students had regarding recycling at AISG and provided statistics to back up her claims. Most of the people whom she surveyed believed that AISG was not an environmentally-friendly school, which aligns with the views of the people whom I interviewed. However, what’s concerning is that although her article was written a year ago, the situation doesn’t seem to have improved by a lot. People still believe that the school can do more, and additional sustainable measures (apart from the ones which Abby mentioned) have not been added. A year is a lot of time, and it’s upsetting that no headway seems to have been made. In Abby’s article, it was mentioned that the school had a battery recycling spot which had been relatively under the radar. However, it seems to have been wiped completely off the map because nobody knows about it due to the fact that it can’t be seen.

I asked a few members of the AISG community what we could do to bring sustainability to the forefront and received some interesting answers. Ms. Barga feels, “We should set up either a meeting once a month for any members of our community who want to share their suggestions or have a WeChat group that serves the same purpose.” She believes that once ideas start flying around, behaviors will gradually start changing. Grace C. says, “Peer editing should be done using our MacBooks instead of using hard copies.” Some people also suggest that the printing limit should be decreased even further, prompting students to print less. Christel L. recommends that the school should hold an assembly regarding sustainability. She states, “The School Speaker Series is extremely cool and I enjoy being able to learn about topics such as Tea and Taichi. But I think that bringing in a speaker who could teach us how to compost and be more responsible regarding our actions could also be beneficial.” Ms. Barga further suggests that the school should require all students to bring their own utensils, bowls, and plates to school and place them in their homeroom teacher’s room. She believes that this would eliminate takeaway containers, although students would have to learn to clean their dishes. “But is that such a big price to pay?” she asks.

“People are waking up and realizing that we need to take action,” states Mr. Tragert. There’s no denying that AISG has an extremely long way to go when it comes to sustainability and utilizing its resources responsibly. But, although a large part of the responsibility lies with the school administration, it’s imperative that the student body as a whole come together and recognize the need to act. Collectively, solutions can be brainstormed in order to truly make our school the best version that it can be. “Everybody has the power to come up with these actions and suggestions, says Mr. Tragert, “They shouldn’t wait for somebody else to bring the issue up.”

Don’t hesitate to take action, facilitate dialogue and come up with ideas.