We produce waste from almost anything we do, from consumption of packaged foods and drinks to studying from paper textbooks and working on laptops. At the ISZL Zero-Waste initiative we are working to minimize ISZL’s waste stream by reducing our consumption of resources such as paper and inks, making more efficient use of our water, and educating our community about recycling.

Zero Waste:

The Zero Waste Group is a branch of the ISZL Sustainability Initiative working within the Youth Forum Switzerland’s Innovations group. This project was started when the student leaders of the environmental group were approached by the Parents Association to help make International Day 2019 more sustainable. This was our first attempt at hosting a zero-waste event, by replacing the usual disposable plates and cutlery with compostable ones. It was a good start, but we realized that we still had a long way to go in educating our community and implementing guidelines for truly zero-waste events. From this, the Zero Waste group was established with the goal to reduce waste streams from not only events but also our day-to-day school life.

Our Mission:

“The conservation of all resources by means of responsible production, consumption, reuse, and recovery of products, packaging, and materials without burning and with no discharges to land, water, or air that threaten the environment or human health.” (Zero Waste International Alliance, 2018)

Our long-term goal is to fulfill the definition above, which can be done by reducing the school’s waste streams as much as possible through elimination of single-use plastics in all school events and on a day-to-day basis. We also aim to integrate the whole ISZL community into our projects through cross-campus-based initiatives. As a group, we aim to reduce the amount of waste we produce as a school by implementing a compost system and a recycling program to help mitigate the amount of waste going to landfills or incinerators, instead, getting the most out of our materials.

Ongoing Projects

International Day & ISZL Event Guidelines

Did you notice the compost bins at International Day 2019? Events like International Day contribute the most to ISZL’s waste stream, so this year we focused on making the event as close to zero-waste as possible. We used compostable cutlery and plates, placed more PET bottle recycling bins, and raised awareness about the importance of sustainable waste disposal. We are currently extending this project to formulate official ISZL sustainable event guidelines.

COMPOST SYSTEM

In order to make efficient use of food waste, we have implemented a composting system at ISZL. Food waste is collected from the cafeteria and composting bins in the lunchroom, which is then placed in the composting machine. The end product can then be transferred to our own school garden and used as a fertilizer.

MYCELIUM

In order to create sustainable products that can be composted, we used mycelium, a type of fungi that grows into mushrooms and forms a network of small fibers that make the structure stable. Mycelium is newly being used by Ford for bumpers on some cars and in the interior of the 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQXX concept car. We collaborated with the primary school to create and experiment with making small-scale mycelium products, such as a tray, pots, swords, and shields. Our future vision is to create furniture out of mycelium that will be used in our garden and pergola area.