Plan Overview

Barriers to Culture Change:

Who will be involved?

Changing the school culture to one focused on sustainability will require to participation of teachers, support staff, administrators, and students. Ideally, parents and the surrounding community will become involved, too.

Action Plan:

Culture Change Strategies

Who will be involved?

Improving the sustainability of facilities and operations will require the participation of students, staff, administration, and maintenance (for switching out lightbulbs).

Action Plan:

Reduce electricity usage

By encouraging students and staff to turn off lights and electronics that aren’t needed, the electricity usage of the school can be reduced. As stated in the Sustainable Schools Best Practice Guide, “lighting accounts for nearly half the electric bill in most schools” (BC Ministry of Education).

Starting in September, our class will initiate a school wide challenge to reduce electricity used. The incentive could be that part of the difference in the current year and previous year’s hydro bill will be put towards new playground equipment. Our class will request the previous year’s electricity used from the board office and present it to the school. We will also suggest ways to reduce electricity. Suggestions will include turning off the lights when not needed in classrooms and other areas that have adequate light from windows throughout the day. All students can take it upon themselves to turn off the lights when the class is leaving a space or suggest that the lights be turned off if there’s enough light coming through the window. This can also be done for computers not being used.

Additionally, lightbulbs should be switched out for more efficient, compact fluorescent light bulbs, such as the T-5 and T-8 fluorescent bulbs.

Encourage teachers to take learning outside the classroom

There is lots of space on the school grounds, especially on days when shade isn’t needed, and teaching and learning about sustainability and the environment is well suited for the outdoors. Outdoor activities could include talking to nearby community members, measuring biodiversity, and observing the natural and urban landscapes in the area (Gibb, p. 16). Taking learning outside utilizes the green spaces and reduces the energy requirement of the school as lights and computers can be left off.

Organize the school garden

There is a lot of potential for the school garden. Even though school is not in session in the summer, crops with short maturity lengths could be grown and used for the school breakfast and lunch programs. This could include radishes, lettuce, spinach, herbs, and berries that mature in the spring, such as early strawberries. By organizing who does what and what is planted where, students and staff could be more involved and reap the benefits together. Organizing could start as simple as a schedule and a map after finding out which classes wish to be involved. As stated in the Sustainable Schools Best Practices Guide, “involving students in ongoing school garden projects allows them to learn about the cycles of life and engage in fun outdoor learning” (BC Ministry of Education). The food harvested in the garden could be used for the food program.

Increase the sustainability of the food program

Biodegradable or reusable dinnerware

Currently, a large number of students eat at school for breakfast and/or lunch and everything is currently served on paper plates/bowls with plastic cutlery. It would reduce the schools waste substantially to switch to reusable or biodegradable options. There is only one food services staff member so the cleanup would need to include either other staff or students, and they would be pulled from classrooms. The food prep area is also very limited for the lunch and breakfast program. For this reason, switching to biodegradable options would be an easier, but still impactful, switch to make. Serving some meals that don’t require plates or cutlery is also a way that waste could be reduced.

Stop sending food waste to the landfill

Additionally, food waste that ends up in the landfill produces methane gas. As food decomposes in a landfill, due to the lack of oxygen, methane gas is released into the air, which is a lot worse than cardon dioxide (Team Compost Connect). Additionally, the transportation of food waste produces more carbon emissions. There are two ways to reduce these emissions.

The first is to encourage students to not waste food. If students took only what they knew they would eat, there would be less waste. Students in Ontario successfully reduced their school’s food waste by half in 2025 by informing other students. Check out the CBC Kids News article here for inspiration.

Compost food waste

The second way to prevent food from ending up in the landfill is by either starting a school composting program or sending food waste to the municipal compost program. Although composting still releases carbon dioxide, it’s a gas that’s less potent than methane and the finished compost is “a valuable soil enhancer that helps plants thrive” (Gibbens). This soil is also better for the Earth than commercial fertilizers. “Better soil helps support plant growth, which can help sequester carbon from the atmosphere. Stronger, nutrient-rich soil also reduces the need for fertilizer and pesticides, which are pollutants themselves and are often produced with destructive mining practices and a high carbon footprint” (Gibbens).

Serve less meat and dairy (or none)

Finally, to further increase the sustainability of the food program, less meat and diary should be served. In addition to meat and diary conflicting with some students dietary needs, “the meat and dairy industry is responsible for around 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, as well as a major driver of biodiversity loss, so it’s an important sector to focus on” (Friends of the Earth, p. 8).