Sustainability In K-12 Schools

K-12 schools and districts have been considering various aspects of sustainability such as resource conservation and green building design for some time. They are only beginning to consider the larger overarching concept of sustainability which encompasses everything that a school/district does, including within its teaching and learning program, business office, services and its facility and operations.

Why Is a Sustainable School System Important?

K-12 school/districts and schools serve their communities and play a critical role in the sustainability effort. They should be striving for sustainability because:

• They are in the best position to reach ALL children with an education for sustainability, setting them up to create a sustainable future.
• The school/district operations provide a learning model which should support education for sustainability
• Education for Sustainability supports academic performance
• Decisions and practices for sustainability make good business sense
• They have an infrastructure large enough to support 20% of our population every day; large enough for any negative impacts caused by its operation
• The health (and hence performance) of students and staff is dependent on the school’s indoor environment, where they spend about half of their waking days.