Sustainability

The ISM learning community aims to educate and act for a sustainable future by embracing a whole school approach to sustainability education. A common understanding of sustainability is facilitated through the adoption of the Sustainability Compass, which emphasizes the need for balance between nature, economy, society and individual well-being.
At ISM, faculty use systems thinking techniques in classes to assist students in recognizing interdependence and understanding feedback. Students are empowered with the necessary knowledge, skills, tools, methods, and opportunities to initiate positive change within our community on a co-curricular and on an institutional level. The school also has a sustainability fund which supports projects that promote sustainable development within the school or with ISM’s service partners.
In addition is the Sustainability Council, a group of like-minded individuals who are passionate about creating a sustainable community here at ISM. The Council facilitates its projects through the Sustainability Compass in line with ISM Education, and sponsors projects and developments in ISM in order to improve the school’s sustainability. Below are some of the projects Sustainability Council has run.
COMPLETED PROJECTS
THINK BEFORE YOU DRINK
....a project that rose awareness about non-reusable lids and straws, and dis-incentivized their use by first informing the community about the unnecessary nature of lids and straws and second by having school vendors and restaurants remove lids and straws from their counters and drinks such that they will only give out these lids and straws upon request.
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“SEPARWASTE”
...is an initiative that focused on the creation of new labels that are now a standard for all garbage bins throughout ISM. These labels were created for students to easily understand how waste segregation works within the community and to dispose waste in the appropriate bin. A schoolwide competition for designing the new trash bin labels was held to determine which design will be used and this is the result.
THE HYDROPONICS SYSTEM
....was set up in ISM as a method of demonstrating sustainable methods of growing and consuming vegetables with involvement from the community. The project is part of ISM’s sustainability fund and is fully funded by the school and by organizations within the school. It is designed to involve the ISM community to maximize awareness about the project.
GLOBAL ISSUES NETWORK
...or better known as GIN, is a platform to empower the youth in initiating projects for sustainable solutions to the problems they see prominent in their school communities as well as big global problems. Last year, this trip happened in Shanghai Concordia IS where we listened to inspirational keynote speakers, brainstormed new project ideas, made presentations demonstrating what we have implemented in our school communities to others, and most importantly, made strong connections to help us with our journey towards a more sustainable tomorrow.
CURRENT PROJECTS
THINK BEFORE YOU EAT
Our project is a continuation of last year’s “Think Before you Drink”, focused on a different aspect of our consumption. Essentially, our goal is to reduce the number of disposable paper and plastic containers students use for their lunches.


We aim to do this by finding innovative ways to incentivize students to bring in their own reusable lunch containers. Currently, our main goal is to effectively create express lunch lines for those who choose to bring in their own containers as add on to the PHP 5.00 discount that it is already in place.
THE STUDENT HANDBOOK
The goal of this project is to update the Student handbook to reflect the growing importance of Sustainability in the ISM community. This project is aimed at transforming the handbook into a useful tool for ISM students to help incorporate Sustainability into their everyday School-life. These new guidelines are oriented around the Classroom, the Canteen, Transportation, and Sustainability in general around the school.
A TO Z SUSTAINABILITY
...is a project that aims to make learning environments and teaching more sustainable in classrooms. There will be an update to the Teachers Handbook and a aesthetic visual reminder that will be added to their classrooms to remind them of the behaviors they can do to embody a more green mindset and lifestyle. Some of the tips that will be given include better methods of printing, formatting, reusable habits with markers, and more!
IMPROVING THE KANTINA
Improving the Kantina is a collection of initiatives to make the Kantina more efficient in the technical aspects of waste management. This year, we aim to improve the labels of the trash bins inside the Kantina so the ISM community better segregates their waste, as well as improve the awareness of concessionaires through a seminar that will introduce guidelines to make sure food waste is reduced and properly managed.