March Resources & Best Practices for Sustainable Schools

March 2026

🌿 #52: Stormwater Management

Unmanaged stormwater can lead to flooding, erosion, infrastructure damage, and the pollution of local waterways. As rain runs off hard surfaces like roofs, roads, and schoolyards, it picks up oil, litter, heavy metals, and other pollutants—making stormwater one of the leading causes of water pollution globally. In the U.S. alone, the EPA estimates that 70–90% of water pollution in urban areas is from stormwater runoff.

Sustainable stormwater management strategies—such as rain gardens, permeable pavement, green roofs, and native plantings—not only reduce runoff and filter pollutants, but also improve biodiversity and create hands-on learning opportunities.

Above: Mural painted by students on a storm drain at River Bluff High School in South Carolina. Read more (Photo: Samantha McCollum)

Managed well, school grounds become powerful teaching tools — demonstrating how to work with nature, not against it.

Getting Started with Stormwater Management:

1. Assess: Map how water flows across campus and identify flooding, erosion, and runoff areas.

2. Research: Review local stormwater regulations and green infrastructure best practices.

3. Set Guidelines: Create goals, standards (e.g., native plants, permeable surfaces, bioswales, rainwater collection), and a maintenance plan.

4. Take Action: Start with small projects like rain gardens, rain barrels, permeable paving, and student monitoring.

✔ Rain gardens ✔ Bioswales ✔ Permeable surfaces ✔ Green roofs ✔ Tree planting ✔ Native plant strips ✔ Restoring natural drainage
✔ Rain barrels & cisterns ✔ Erosion & Grading Improvements

Did you know? Permeable surfaces allow rainwater to soak into the ground instead of running off hard pavement — reducing flooding, recharging groundwater, improving soil health, and supporting the microorganisms that keep ecosystems functioning. Plus, they’re more attractive than plain concrete!

The Stormwater Manager Primer (available to START Schools) can help your school get started with better stormwater management.

Find more resources for stormwater management in our Sustainable Schools Community > #40: Grounds Management.

🌍 Interested in Becoming a START School?

If your school is ready to move from good intentions to measurable action, we’d love to talk.

👉 Book a chat + demo to explore whether START is a fit for your school.
Shareable link: What is START? 2026
Benefits of Become a Sustainable School

A Strong Sustainability Action Plan

Durham Academy, North Carolina

Durham Academy, a Pre-K-12 independent school in Durham, North Carolina, is a great example of whole-school sustainability in action. The school has made sustainability a strategic priority endorsed by its Board.

With leadership of the school’s Sustainability Coordinator, Tina Bessias, the school has developed an exemplary Sustainability Action Plan built around three clear goals:

Educate for Sustainability · Reduce Greenhouse Gases · Increase Biodiversity

Sustainability is embedded across the student journey — from preschool composting and pollinator studies in elementary school to student-led composting, biodiversity projects, and sustainability events in the Upper School.

Left: Upper Schoolers from Durham Academy participated in a Business of Sustainability seminar, exploring the efficiency of systems used to heat and cool air and water in campus buildings.(Image via Durham Academy)

Tips from Durham Academy’s Sustainability Coordinator Tina Bessias:

Don't go looking for a playbook in this new field. Be an opportunist instead!
Try to create a sustainability presence in events that are already happening in your school.
Seek input from the students, faculty members, and administrators who are trying to do something innovative and intriguing. Try to collaborate with them in ways that promote their goals and raise awareness of sustainability.
And perhaps most importantly, keep it upbeat. In a field all too freighted with dread, your role is to offer hope. Make it silly sometimes, and have fun!

Free Webinar: The Power of Systems Thinking for Environmental Educators

Thursday, March 26, 3:00–4:00 PM ET

Join Compass Education for an introduction to systems thinking, an approach to problem-solving that views problems as part of a wider dynamic system. Gain practical tools to identify root causes, recognize leverage points, and find pathways to positive change.

Register for this free eeWEBINAR at https://lnkd.in/gE-SzQ7T. All registrants will receive the recording and presented materials.

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Global Student Changemaker Contest

Apply by April 22, 2026

The Educated Choices Program focuses on empowering healthy, sustainable food choices. Educators around the world are invited to submit student posters, poems, and creative work. All entries may receive recognition on ECP’s website, social media, newsletter, and other materials, and selected winners will also receive a physical, personally engraved award. Learn more.

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Young Reporters for the Environment

Apply by June, 2026

The Young Reporters for the Environment programme is an international network & platform for young people to investigate, research and share solutions to global environmental issues. The 2025-2026 YRE International competition is for young people aged 11-25 and centers around the theme of food security & climate change.

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Trust for Sustainable Living Student Competition

Apply by June, 2026

TSL International Student Competition – Sustainability Culture
TSL invites students aged 7–18 (worldwide) to share their ideas and perspectives on Sustainability Culture. Students can submit one free entry in a wide range of formats, including artwork, music, video, podcast, writing, or creative pieces. Entries must be submitted via the TSL Competition Platform by a registered Teacher Champion (teacher/parent account required). Learn More.

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Upcoming Dates

Saturday, March 28, 2026, from 8:30 PM to 9:30 PM local time: Earth Hour
March 30th: International Day of Zero Waste
April 1st: Fossil Fools Day
April 22nd: Earth Day
April 26th: Stop Food Waste Day
Learn more dates for awareness and action + find activity ideas in the GSA Community > #1: Events.

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:

Join our Sustainable Schools Community Sustainable Schools Community for resources, best practices & a peer-to-peer network of 800+ school sustainability champions.
Use START: Sustainability Tracking, Analytics & Roadmap Tool to benchmark, plan, track and collaborate for Whole School Sustainability.

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