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Green Initiatives

Students for the Environment: Environmental Stewardship at ISK

At ISK we strongly believe in the importance of student voice and initiative. Our students are continuously engaged in community outreach activities and encouraged to develop their ideas.  Students for the Environment (SFE), a student-led club dedicated to environmental stewardship,  focuses on sustainability in day-to-day life, and campaigns for environmental consciousness to be incorporated in the organizational aspects of our campus and community. Through collaborating with school administration and the board, the students of SFE were able to take a leading role in creating solutions to real-world issues in our community. Over the last five years SFE has:

  • Brought a coalition of school groups together to successfully propose that ISK become a sustainable and/or carbon-neutral campus. The school is now committed to conducting an environmental audit and including a sustainability PLEDGE into our MISSION.

  • Created and passed a proposal for a single-use plastic ban that came into effect in May 2020.  

  • Expanded the school recycling center - which now takes glass, plastic, aluminium and paper/ cardboard - and educated the community to recycle responsibly.

  • Investigated the impact of ISK’s waste on the wider community, researched alternatives, and proposed the successful switch to Taka Taka Solutions who are committed to reusing or recycling 95% of waste collected from our campus.

  • Reduced waste by introducing 100 reusable mugs at Valentine’s.

  • Raised and donated over $4000 to Wangari Maathai’s Green Belt Movement, WE Walk for Water, Mount Kenya Trust, and assorted Kenyan environmental charities.

  • Run Earth Day, “Earth Ball”, Bat Conservation and various fun events.

“It was with pride that we saw our students lead the way, bridging intention to reality. Thank you, SFE, for initiating a major step toward becoming a truly ‘Green Campus.” - PTO

“Together we can find and create solutions to the challenges we face.” - Hanan, SFE Member, Class of 2021

 

The Blanchard Community Forest

The Blanchard Community Forest was designed in the Fall of 2021 by high school students in the Environmental Science course immediately following the construction of the new Middle School and HS Science facilities.  The area below the lower parking area was severely impacted during the construction process, although most of the larger trees were protected.  In November and December of 2021, students from the ES, MS and HS joined forces to plant over 250 indigenous trees (15 different species) and 125 indigenous shrubs (16 different species) around the many paths and outdoor classroom areas that were created for use in outdoor learning and environmental education.  Students in the high school Environmental Science classes have continued to plan for, design, fundraise for and help with the construction of many new additions to the forest ecosystem, including a stream ecosystem (built in 2023) and a pond ecosystem (currently under construction).