CAC’s small steps towards sustainability

When considering the life cycle of a plastic bottle of water, the Pacific Institute estimates that the associated energy costs are equivalent to filling each bottle one-quarter full of oil.

Our school community uses and therefore needs to dispose of thousands of plastic beverage containers each year. Extrapolate those numbers to city, country, and worldwide use of disposable plastic bottles, and those statistics become a major global concern.

Several local governments and educational institutions from around the globe have voted to ban the sale of bottled water packaged in single-serving disposable plastic bottles because of the negative environmental and economic implications associated with their use.

For the past three years, Cairo American College (CAC) has been committed to taking a serious look at its environmental footprint in Egypt. Through a coordinated effort led by the “Green Team,” diverse representatives from the three school divisions have examined ways to save energy, reduce waste and ensure recycling. At the same time, this dialog has served to raise general environmental awareness throughout our school community with the goal of making our campus a model of “Clean and Green.”

“Small steps” is a common phrase used by the Green Team, since sustainable practices are often a careful, concerted process towards a final goal. Through a school-wide effort, the campus recycling programs for paper, plastic bottles, and printer cartridges have become more effective. We have established important partnerships with local organizations that can make use of our recyclable materials. With these initiatives in place, the Green Team is currently targeting the elimination of disposable plastic water bottles on campus.

For a variety of reasons, many members of our school community routinely choose to drink bottled water instead of tap water. Consuming water from single-serving disposable plastic bottles generates a tremendous amount of plastic waste. This problem encouraged us to look more closely at what people are really getting when they purchase a bottle of water. It was interesting to discover that much of the bottled water sold in Egypt is simply municipal water that has been filtered using the reverse osmosis technology. Further research indicated this is true in many commercial bottled-water markets around the world.

Understanding that reality allowed the Green Team to give birth to the “water oasis” concept at CAC. Over the past twelve months, we have established four separate water oasis stations centrally located in each school division and at the common athletic area. The oases use the same reverse osmosis technology as the commercial bottled-water companies. Actual testing confirms that the water quality from the oases matches any bottled water sold on campus. Funding for these oases came from a school board innovation grant, the local parent-teacher organization, and the Class of 2008. The installation of the water oases along with a concentrated effort to educate and encourage students to bring reusable water bottles to school each day, supports our hope to significantly reduce the amount of plastic waste generated at our school.

“Inspire students to contribute to a sustainable future” is an integral part of our school mission statement. The CAC Green Team, in collaboration with students, parents, faculty, support staff and administration, pledges to take the necessary small steps towards a sustainable future. Earth Day is celebrated around the world in April, but we know the ideals of Earth Day need to be reflected in our daily habits. We recognize that we all have a shared responsibility to take small, but equally important, steps towards sustainability. For more information about our green campus initiatives, please visit the green link on our school website.

If you share a similar vision for sustainability in your international school community, we welcome the opportunity to dialog further with our colleagues from around the world!

Michael Popinchalk is the head of CAC and David Oswald is technology head at the school.

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