News

While Germany leads Europe in waste management and recycling, it also leads in the amount of plastic waste produced per citizen. The advances in recycling technology and programs like der Grünerpunkt should be celebrated, but the sheer volume of packaging produced by our daily lives means that Germany (and the world) cannot recycle its way out of the plastic waste problem.

The limitations of plastics recycling, reliance on energy-reclamation incineration, and dependence on waste exports mean that there is still significant work to be done in Germany for our daily actions to support a more sustainable world. By trying to remove plastic bottles and packaged drinks from our school and replacing them with drinks served in reusable cups, we are thinking globally and acting locally.

Specific reasons why FIS is making the switch:

1. Upper School Students on the Upper School Sustainability Workstream and in Design for Change have advocated for FIS to find ways to reduce the amount of single-use packaging we use each day. Video of student presentation (20 minutes)

2. The FISO cafeteria sells between 5,000-7,000 packaged drinks per month. The carbon footprint caused by these sales, when viewed at the systems level, are equal to one car trip around the world every month. Switching to drinks in reusables eliminates this unnecessary carbon output while still maintaining a variety of choice and affordable costs.

3. FIS wants to be a Zero Waste campus by 2030.

4. The FISO cafeteria renovations include installation of automated drink dispensers, allowing students a choice of beverages at meal and break times.

5. The FIS Food Service Guidelines support the shift. Switching to drinks in reusables also helps the school reduce sugar intake while still offering delicious variety. 

6. Looking at the entire life cycle of plastic bottles and Tetrapak (carton) drinks, there is a significant carbon footprint and negative environmental impact from using bottled/packaged drinks. Switching to drinks in reusable cups reduces these negative impacts by at least 80%.

7. Many comparable international schools like the International School of Luxembourg, the American School of London, and Ecolint: International School of Geneva have already eliminated bottled drinks from their daily operations. FIS wants to catch up.

8. It takes 5-7 bottles worth of water to make one bottled water (or bottled drink). Avoiding packaged drinks is a significant action to the school’s goal of conserving water whenever and wherever possible.

9. Plastic waste is one of the largest environmental challenges facing Europe today. Europe generates approximately 30 million tons of plastic waste annually, of which only a fraction is recycled effectively. Around 80-85% of marine litter is plastic, and the EU has taken significant steps to reduce single-use plastics, which are a major contributor to ocean and wildlife pollution.

10. Youth activists in Germany have been at the forefront of pushing for stronger action against plastic waste. Many German schools and universities have joined this movement by banning single-use plastics, educating students on sustainability, and encouraging the use of reusable alternatives.

11. The European Union is moving toward a circular economy model, which focuses on reusing materials rather than discarding them. Our decision to switch to drinks in reusable containers aligns with these broader actions.

Please email sustainability@fis.edu with any questions or if you want to be involved in additional sustainability efforts.

Action Steps (2023-2024)  we concluded this year

• Increased awareness of the importance amongst the community e.g. Board Show Case Presentation, Sustainability Council has grown, etc. etc.

• We implemented further sustainable practices and operations e.g. Centralized Stationary Supply across FISo+FISW; Reduced the number of single printers and avoid paper waste

• Change Maker Conferences were held again

• Started Outdoor education classes for all 6th & 8th grades at FISW

What else have we done

• Policy 1.7 Sustainability has been reviewed as the overall governing direction from the Board of Trustees

• Policy 4.3 School Facilities - Sustainability  → This policy has been updated and Guiding Principles for facility projects have been developed to support this policy / Sustainability Scorecard will be applied as of 2024-2025 to rate Capital Budget projects

• Sustainable Operations at FIS → Guidelines for sustainable management of campus and buildings 

• 2nd CO2 Footprint Report (Summary) including all the reductions on heating, electricity, water, trash; 

• Strengthened BoT awareness and dialog on how Sustainability, where relevant, can guide decision-making

• PTG and other groups have organized events such as Sustainability Book Fair; Cloth Sales,

Issues we are still working on

• Curriculum audit (Upper School / Kelly Sweet) 

• Working with Inspire Citizens and Compass Education to embed SDG’s and action based learning into all grade levels 

• PS/ES - Inquiry units and PYPx

• US - Humanities, economics, Science units, Day H

• Working on an US schedule change FISO for 2025/2026

• US Audit of Authentic opportunities - Miro  

• Food Service Guidelines for Oberursel & Wiesbaden (Catering, Cafeteria, Events)

• Cafeteria: Plastic bottle free / Cafeteria single use plastic free (student presentation)

• Photovoltaic System to be finished in Oberursel (at the Wiesbaden Campus it is already installed)

Where can we get better

• We feel we should review the long term goals of the Sustainability Council, which are currently:

• Aim for FIS to become a sustainable zero emissions / zero waste campus by 2030

• Integrate sustainability in our curriculum at all levels 

• Support FIS community in fulfilling our role in society in regards to sustainability

• Provide framework and principles to support all projects and efforts

• Increase communication → we need to share more updates and our vision for FIS

• Investigate to link Belonging Goals to Sustainability

Please read the summary of 2023-2024 and our strategic impact (here)

Thank you to all community members, students and colleagues who gave their input to the new strategic plan 2023/2024

The title of the strategic impact has shifted from Social and Environmental Responsibility to Sustainability.  Two routes for development have been identified and defined:

• Learning

• Operations

Read more about our goals and action steps for the coming school year. Strategic Imapct 2022/2023

The focus in 2020-2021 was to expand awareness of social and environmental stewardship among all community members through programs that help students to develop the values and character attributes of the IB Learner Profile and UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The following action steps were taken:

• Provide time and resources for the Sustainability Council to achieve its goals

• Use the Corporate Social Responsibility report and roadmap to develop community understanding of Social and Environmental Responsibility

• Create more sheltered spaces on campus for outdoor learning, lunch, play and recess

• Review how we use the IB Learner Profile to develop students as caring, open-minded learners

• Use the UN Sustainable Development Goals to learn about, reflect on and address issues around sustainability