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Future Workforce Preparedness, Fighting Foodwaste & More! ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Are we equipping our students to be problem-solvers, innovators, and creators of a sustainable future?We teach math, science, and literacy — but are we teaching students how to tackle the defining challenges of their century? Are we equipping them to shape a sustainable future, or leaving them to face these challenges unprepared? This doesn’t mean asking kindergartners to wrestle with collapsing fisheries or climate disasters. But it does mean building age-appropriate understanding of how to work with our planet, not against it — and showing students how to help solve the challenges we face. And it’s not just about environmental literacy — it’s about future readiness. Schools play a critical role in preparing students for this changing world — equipping them with the knowledge, creativity, and confidence to lead the transition.
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START Primers are Here!START Primers are quick, practical guides that explain each sustainability metric and break it into clear, actionable steps your school can take — and they’re student-friendly too! 📢 New in the START Toolkit: START Metric #8: Sustainability Learning Outcomes — for schools looking to embed sustainability into teaching and help students connect what they learn in class to real-world solutions.
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Learn more about how your school can use START: Sustainability Tracking, Analytics & Roadmap Tool to turn your sustainability ambition into action, or schedule a demo!
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Congratulations to these schools for launching their Whole School Sustainability journeys through START! Hanna Woods Elementary School, Missouri USA Robinson Elementary School, Missouri USA Ryogoku Soccer Academy, Missouri USA Pembroke Hill School, Missouri USA Herculaneum High School, Missouri USA Seven Hills School, Ohio USA Meadowridge School, British Columbia, Canada Mulgrave School, British Colombia, Canada
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Fighting Food Waste with “The Golden Plate”At St. Andrew’s College in Ontario, Canada, the Environmental Council has cooked up a creative solution to food waste: The Golden Plate. This weekly, student-led award celebrates students and staff who consistently finish their meals — turning sustainability into a fun, visible part of school culture. Every Friday, a team of “Compost Coaches” (aka the Green Guys) track clean plates in the dining hall. The following Monday, winners are announced in assembly and rewarded with two coveted perks: skipping the lunch line for a week and choosing a Friday menu item. The results speak for themselves: the percentage of “squeaky clean plates” has jumped from below 50% to nearly 70%. Along the way, students have built stronger connections with kitchen staff and made sustainability a shared, community goal.
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Golden Plate >>> Student-Designed App!And the innovation doesn’t stop there! Students have even created a Golden Plate tracking app to make monitoring food waste fun and easy. Other schools can adopt it for their own Golden Plate initiatives—try it out and see the impact in your dining hall! 👉 Golden Plate App! The takeaway: When it’s student-powered, visible, and a little bit fun, it sticks. Read more and see videos here! And if you’d like to get in touch to learn more, contact Matthew at matthew.jaekel@sac.on.ca
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Webinar: Why Schools Are Moving to Reusables in the CafeteriaThursday, September 18th at 4pm ET Join us for this webinar on Moving to Reusables in the Cafeteria which will cover: Register here - and share the word!
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Earth Prize 2026 - Registrations Open!The Earth Prize is an annual, global $100,000 environmental sustainability competition for students between the ages of 13 and 19, which rewards the teams whose projects have the most potential to address environmental issues. Learn more. __________________________________________Support: WWF’s Greenprints for the FutureApply by November 15, 2025 This opportunity provides financial and personalized support, along with ready-to-use teaching resources, to help educators lead their students in designing and carrying out real-world sustainability projects in their schools and communities. Learn more. __________________________________________Webinar: Climate Education in ActionSaturday September 27th, 2025 Join this free virtual event, hosted by the American Museum of Natural History and SubjectToClimate during NYC Climate Week. Educators will hear a series of short presentations from NYC teachers sharing how they’ve successfully brought climate topics into their classrooms. Learn more. __________________________________________Webinar: Cafeteria Food WasteWednesday October 1, 2025 at 2pm CDT Seven Generations Ahead's Zero Waste Schools team and Illinois Farm to School Network are presenting - “Feed Your Kids, Not the Can - How to serve school lunches with more taste and less waste” on Oct. 1 at 2pm. Attend to learn from two experienced food service professionals about sourcing and serving local foods in school meals and practical tips on how to minimize food waste in the cafeteria. Food service professionals, school administrators, lunchroom staff, and anyone interested in sourcing local while generating less waste are encouraged to attend.
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Green Schools Alliance is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, created by schools, for schools, with a mission is to connect and empower schools worldwide to lead the transition to a sustainable, equitable, and climate-resilient future. Ways to get involved: Get your school to sign the Sustainability & Climate Leadership Commitment to join schools and districts who have already
answered the call to action. Join the Community for resources, best practices & a peer-to-peer network of school sustainability champions. Use START: Sustainability Tracking, Analytics & Roadmap Tool to benchmark, plan, track and collaborate for Whole School Sustainability.
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Your support enables us to continue our work in developing tools and programs that empower schools and students to make measurable change for a more sustainable, regenerative and climate-resilient future.
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