Embedding Sustainability in
your School Culture

How does your school’s culture - your values, leadership, policies, and everyday practices, support sustainability?

A good place to start is by looking at how sustainability connects with your school’s existing vision and purpose (see how). In most cases, it’s already there—woven into the values you’ve committed to, even if it’s not yet named explicitly. Bringing those connections to light helps staff, students, and families see that sustainability isn’t something extra—it’s part of who you are.

And then comes a crucial part: communication. Sharing your sustainability story builds awareness, strengthens buy-in, and keeps momentum alive.

Take Interlochen Center for the Arts (High School Arts Program, Michigan USA) as an example. The school makes their sustainability journey visible—regularly sharing goals, milestones, and progress with their community via their website:

Zoom Meetup: Learning From Leaders

In 2016, Interlochen Center for the Arts (featured above) wasn’t even recycling. Within two years, they were composting all campus food waste—and today, they’re powered largely by renewables, growing $10,000 worth of produce annually for their cafeteria, and guided by a comprehensive Climate Action Plan.

This week on October 16 at 4pm EST, Emily Umbarger, Interlochen’s Sustainability Coordinator (and the driving force behind this remarkable transformation!) will share her story, strategies, and lessons learned. You’ll also have the chance to ask her questions directly during a live Q&A. 

Register to receive the zoom link.

Pediatric Perspective:
A Wake-Up Call for School Foodware

Rising rates of type 2 diabetes, obesity, and early puberty in children—conditions once rare—point to an environmental trigger. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) now formally warns against plastics in foodware due to hormone-disrupting chemicals.

This is a turning point—akin to when society first recognized the dangers of smoking. It’s time to shift policy, products, and practices to protect children’s health. As pediatrician Dr. Manasa Mantravadi puts it, “Advocacy for moving away from plastic foodware is preventive pediatrics at scale—addressing the root causes of chronic disease, not just the symptoms.” 

Plastic’s Impact on Children:

• Chemical exposure: Plastics contain BPA, phthalates, and PFAS—compounds that interfere with hormones regulating brain development, metabolism, fertility, and immunity.

• Particle exposure: Children ingest microplastics daily, with growing evidence linking them to cancer and other long-term health risks.

• School exposure: In the U.S. alone, 30 million children eat school lunches daily, making foodware choices a major public health issue.

START Metric Cards

Whether your school is just beginning to explore sustainability or already well on its way, START provides structure, standardized metrics, and pathways forward!

Our new START Metric Cards introduce each of START’s 50+ school sustainability metrics in simple language, with examples and why it matters.They’re designed to help you & your school teams explore, reflect, and start conversations around school sustainability — great for getting acquainted with the metrics, brainstorming sessions, workshops, student exploration, planning sessions, and more!

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:

1. Get your school to sign the Sustainability & Climate Leadership Commitment to join schools and districts who have already
   answered the call to action.

2. Join the Community for resources, best practices & a peer-to-peer network of school sustainability champions.

3. Use START: Sustainability Tracking, Analytics & Roadmap Tool to benchmark, plan, track and collaborate for Whole School Sustainability.