Green Schools movements have emerged as a feature of the education systems of many countries and can trace their origins to needs identified at a 1992 United Nations conference for the involvement of youth in environmental protection and the promotion of economic and social development.
The Green School concept, under names such as Eco Schools, Enviroschools, Green Schools, Sustainable Schools and ResourceSmart School, is visualized as a school guided by the principles of environmental sustainability. It seeks to sensitize teachers and students to the importance of environmental sustainability through integration of that concept throughout the curriculum.
First launched in 2014, the Greenest School in Canada competition seeks to showcase kindergarten to Grade 12 schools across the country that truly exemplify how sustainability can be woven into the infrastructure, culture and curriculum of a school.
The competition, which, unfortunately, has been in hiatus since 2019 because of COVID-related school closures, is part of a series of initiatives from the Canada Green Building Council and the Canada Coalition for Green Schools. Members of the council include designers, architects, engineers, construction companies, owners and operators.
Prior to the 2019 COVID pause, the Lacombe Composite High School in Lacombe, Alberta, and Trinity College School in Port Hope, Ont., won the annual Greenest School in Canada competition.
Thanks to solar arrays, geothermal greenhouses, urban beekeeping and decreased natural-gas consumption, these two schools are examples of environmentally sustainable learning environments.
Despite being in a smaller Alberta community, Lacombe High School maintains sustainability as a core value throughout the school’s programming in a variety of ways.
Highlights include:
• an environmental club that over the past 15 years has raised funds for 32 solar arrays;
• a 13-metre energy-efficient geodesic tropical greenhouse with geothermal heat storage;
• outdoor gardens;
• an urban beekeeping program;
• complete composting of about 25 kg (55 lb.) of organic waste from its kitchen per month; and
• an Adopt a Garden initiative where the school gets community members to help take care of its gardens over the summer months.
At Trinity College School, sustainability is at the forefront of every initiative, including physical building changes and upgrades to its comprehensive curriculum. Highlights at Trinity include:
• a five-year sustainability plan focused on reducing environmental footprint and the creation of a healthy, sustainable community;
• a 23 per cent decrease in natural gas consumption over five years, an achievement the school attributes to window replacements and upgrades to its building automation systems and boilers;
• significant efforts to manage annual energy consumption through regular electricity audits, a major lighting retrofit and a 220-kW solar photovoltaic installation; and
• a “Farm Field Forest” initiative enabling students to build a greenhouse and shed and work on a 0.2-hectare farm to harvest vegetables for the school’s dining room and the local community health centre.
Another innovative approach to the development of a “green school” is the notion of the school as a 3D environmental textbook.
The Northern Guilford Middle School in Greensboro, North Carolina, features a comprehensive and well integrated set of green-related architectural design features that include large monitor screens throughout the school that provide an interactive graphic interface to help educate visitors and students about the status of the different sustainable systems being used throughout the school.
The systems being monitored in real time are visible in a place where students can keep track of energy use every day, including solar water heating, photovoltaic systems, rainwater harvesting and a weather station.
But are green schools just another education fad? Not according to noted British educator, author and TED speaker Sir Ken Robinson: “By integrating sustainability into all aspects of the school environment, sustainable schools are shaping the next generation of leaders and innovators to address some of the most complex and critical challenges we face as a society.
But is school too early a place to begin raising environmental consciousness? Not at all, according to numerous studies of the effectiveness of experiential education being involved with the environment kids will inherit.
Leading green educators such as Naomi Klein, Dr. Susan Kaminskyj and Melina Laboucan-Massimo, a climate and energy campaigner with Greenpeace Canada, tell us through the examples of their work that promoting environmental sustainability also provides psychological and emotional benefits for students, including better academic performance, increased attention span, and development of social-emotional skills such as empathy and compassion.
Beyond that, it is more likely that they will grow into adulthood as stewards of the environment.
Geoff Johnson is a former superintendent of schools
>>> To comment on this article, write a letter to the editor: [email protected]
