SUSTAINABILITY- SPREADING THE WORD; NOV. 2012

A spoilt book page.

With my school located in one of the so called consumption world countries, where people buy and through away, buy and throw away (Severn Cullis-Suzuki, 1992), the talk about sustainability is thought, by majority as a topic about another country, another continent. Nevertheless, Switzerland is one of the countries in which recycling is well organized and coordinated. However, people have more than they need because it is unheard-off to try and tell people how much to buy. In addition, many people do not like reusing things. Therefore, we have a shortage in action in 2 of the triple Rs (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle). Well, my views may be subject to correction since I am basing them on my school, Aiglon College, and my personal obervations for the 14 months that I have lived in Switzerland.

After the conference, I was keen to implement the CAS project proposed by GAT P, which was Spreading the Word. To begin with, I secured a chance to speak to the whole school, to bring their attention to the need for sustainability. On the 2^Nd Nov 2012, I delivered the speech (whose theme was Sustainability) to the whole school. This was my starting point.

 

A spoilt book page

At present, I have had discussions with the Aiglon College headmaster about an issue that I think is very anti-sustainability. The issue is use of textbooks. In my school there has been a tendency not to lend books but to buy new books for every other incoming class. Although high costs are incurred each year, this is not my main worry. My concern is the way students use these books. Every student highlights, colours and writes all over their books. This renders the books useless after just one student’s use.  In addition, students throw these books away after one year, which I consider a misuse of limited resources. Therefore, I am trying to negotiate with students, teachers and administration to change the way books are used here; to ensure that books are not spoilt and thus they are available for other students.






Abandoned spoilt books

I do hope that my fight against this environmentally unfriendly behaviour will yield fruits. In addition, considering that my school is an international school, I am committed to get everyone aware of the importance of sustainability; so that everyone can spread the effect to all more than 40 countries represented here. I would greatly appreciate if anyone gave me some piece of advice on how to fight this battle effectively.

Reference:
Severn Cullis-Suzuki's by juango5. (2011). The Girl Who Silenced the World for 6 Minutes. Available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7ep_8SLQh0&feature=related. Last accessed 24Th Nov 2012.