International School of Zug and Luzern

How to become a zero waste and zero carbon school

International School of Zug and Luzern, a non-profit international school in Zug, Switzerland’s student initiatives have set it firmly on the path to becoming a zero-waste, zero-carbon organisation.

The school has student Zero Carbon and Zero Waste groups that work towards its environmental goals. The Zero Carbon group recently launched the Carbon Fund, a community website for members to offset their emissions through donations that support student projects. The Zero Waste group works locally to ensure minimal waste production and has acquired a composting machine to turn lunchroom waste into valuable compost, and is implementing this as official school policy.

One of the school’s crowning achievements when it comes to sustainability is a project that seeks to build a twin aquaponics system between the school in Switzerland and the small costal town of Kokrobite in Ghana. Aquaponics is an innovative way of farming that involves raising aquatic organisms like fish in harmony with plants in a symbiotic cycle. It uses the waste produced by fish to feed plants and in turn the plants soak up the nitrogen from the fish tank, cleaning the water in the process. There are many benefits to aquaponic farming, among which are the reduced use of water and increased speed of plant growth. Harnessing this process, the school has built a small aquaponics system on campus in its laboratory as a model for a large-scale operation it is helping construct in Ghana, which would produce 20 tons of fish and 50 tons of vegetables annually and provide work and education to the local community.

If International School of Zug and Luzern were to win the World’s Best School Prize for Environmental Action, it would use the funds to secure speakers for school events on environmental causes and for the expansion of other school projects that would help serve the wider community.