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Xanthe Saalmann - Editor The Connection
In April of 2023, The Connection surveyed 80 Dane County high school students in order to get their perspectives on sustainability efforts at their schools. Finding ways to make a school more sustainable helps students feel energized and provides them with a tool to make a difference in their communities. In this article, I’ll talk about how students feel their schools are doing currently, and give some suggestions on what can be done to improve these statistics.
Students, overall, feel their school could be acting much more sustainably, with 60% of students giving a C grade for their school, 23% giving a D grade, 17% giving a B grade, and zero students giving an A. Why do they feel this way? The next few questions will provide some more insight into that. 30% of students say their schools don’t recycle. Plus, 24% of students responded that their school offers no courses related to climate and sustainability, while 34% (the majority) responded that only 1 course is offered, 32% responded that 2 courses are offered, and only 10% responded that 3 or more courses are offered. Clearly, there are modifications that need to be made within schools to reduce their carbon footprints and help educate students on climate change and sustainability.
Students want their schools to change. So, what changes do they want to see? The majority of students surveyed, 49%, want most for their schools to install solar panels. 41% of students would most like to see their schools reduce food waste, while 8% of students want to electrify their school buses, and 3% of students selected other/all of the above, with one student hoping for their school to use reusable utensils. Solar panels, although a large project to undertake, can both bring in revenue for the school and reduce its carbon footprint, as seen at Monona Grove High School last year.
67% of students surveyed have not spoken to their administration about adopting more sustainable practices. The students are not necessarily to blame for this– not only are we busy, but school administrations can often be unresponsive when it comes to student demands, especially in regards to sustainability. Here are some tactics that can get your school administration on your side and listening:
Advocating at the school board level or even local government can be super impactful, by influencing the voices that your high school administration will listen to. You can go to school board meetings, send in letters to local government, and even request that your school board or local leaders make a presence at your green team meeting, just as Dane County Executive Joe Parisi recently appeared at West High School’s green team meeting.
Organizing movements across schools that will get the attention of many schools in your district can force schools to realize that renewable energy, for instance, is something that’s desired by more than just five students in a green club. Just last year, students organized a strike against Line 5 with the Dane County Youth Environmental Committee. These county-wide groups can help you get the attention of your school on a broader scale.
Start small. Reach out to your school’s administration with a simpler project at first, like selling more sustainable products in your vending machine. Once you’ve built a strong relationship, it’ll get easier to mention a bigger, more impactful project, like installing solar panels. Hopefully, when they get to know your club and its leaders, they’ll be more inclined to be responsive and respectful.
Thank you so much to everyone who took the survey. Look out for more polls on our Instagram, @the.connection.dane!
Disclaimer: We weren’t able to view what schools the students we polled were from due to the polling method used. This means that some results may not accurately represent the entire student population if certain schools were more heavily represented than others.