By Laurence Myers, Green Team Coordinator, International School of Kuala Lumpur.

Web:  http://iskl.edu.my

How do you teach students to become lovers of the Earth?  How do you make them realize that they can make a difference once they collect their diploma and walk out the door to a future paved with good intentions and lofty dreams?  At the International School of Kuala Lumpur learning is broadened to incorporate life-long learning beyond the classroom walls. The development of what we refer to as an "environmental ethos" is a basis for such life-long learning and empowerment.

Creating a level of environmental consciousness in a student body requires bold thinking and sweeping initiatives at an administrative and practical level.  Much of our work in the past few years has been to put the environment "in writing" thus intertwining it into existing documentation, publicizing it and ensuring long-term continuity of environmental best-practices. To this end our school's vision statement includes explicit reference to the environment: "To walk in a harmonious environment where care follows closely behind; learning is stimulated, curiosity is sparked, vision is cultivated, and action is inspired."

Strategic planning notwithstanding, it would be impossible to create an environmental awareness without involving the students themselves. Our student clubs form much of the backbone of our environmental efforts. Student clubs at ISKL include the Green Earth Club and Roots & Shoots at the elementary school, the Earth Explorers and Global Issues Club in the middle school and the Earth Club at the high school.   These organizations are consistently involved in the development of programs and activities that provide experiential opportunities in conservation, natural history, gardening, sustainable living and the balance between social and environmental needs.

The curriculum is slowly being augmented in include hands-on experiential stewardship opportunities for our students. A prime example of direct involvement in natural areas is our middle school's flagship program, Malaysia Week.  This allows all middle school students the chance to head out into natural areas of Malaysia, and gives them the chance to engage with nature in teamwork, analysis and bonding experiences.  This is in addition to overnight field trips to places like the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (7^th grade science) or Endau Rompin National Park (Environmental Science).

The high school's new World Class Global Action program, which will come into effect in the coming academic year, will allow students to participate in social and/or environmental experiences across Asia. Several of these experiential trips will enable students to take direct part in restoring our natural heritage, whether that is contributing in reforestation and carbon-offsetting programs in Borneo, analyzing coral reefs on Tioman Island or experiencing the interwoven relationship between indigenous cultural groups and ecosystem that host them in Thailand.

Additionally, our newly-established Global Issues classes in the middle school provide our students with real-life opportunities to make our school "greener". Initiatives taken by our students include energy auditing, development of eco-friendly cleaning agents and paper use.  These research-based initiatives allow us to re-think how we function as a school and challenge our routines on a daily basis.

As a result we now have a series of established expectations regarding our school's behaviors:  Reuse of paper, submission of assignments electronically, printing back-to-back, turning off of air-conditioning, computers, lights, etc.   These initiatives, added to our already existing ongoing recycling program for plastic, aluminum, paper, Tetra Pak cartons and laser printer cartridges, form an environmental expectation of our students, faculty, staff and visitors.  In addition, our monthly community recycling program allows families a chance to recycle at home and drop off their recyclables at school, broadening the ethos and spreading it into the home as well.

Above all this means that our students are given a sense of empowerment. It gives them the opportunity to propose policy, to motivate others to alter their behaviors and to see first-hand the results of their efforts. Perhaps the most impressive result of this has been the ability of students to teach the adult population in being "green"!  It also means that they internalize the need to be active, to be engaged, to be involved, so that our school can improve.

Our dream would include an energy-efficient, carbon-neutral school where the design of the buildings and facilities not only provides opportunity for sustainable functioning, but are a "living classroom" where students can learn from seeing it work in action, or visit the ecosystem they are talking about.   Sustainable ideas - composting, water collection, solar heat, elimination of toxics - are certainly in the realm of possibility as we look toward the future.

How does one ensure that our students care enough to continue to make the environment a priority?  Well, at ISKL we try to live it, to show it, to experience it. We have a long way to go, but allowing our students and staff an opportunity to actively participate in the creation of an environmental ethos will at least give them a reason for why it's important.  Once they have that diploma in hand, and the world beckons them, we are hopeful that they will "walk in a harmonious environment where care follows closely behind".