The document proposes two sustainability initiatives by a student green team at Mustard Seed School in Hoboken, NJ. The initiatives are to form an elective green team club and conduct an awareness campaign. The green team would research local environmental issues and participate in a discernment process to identify possible student-led projects. Examples include starting a school-wide composting program or organizing a bike celebration. Challenges could include resistance to changes and sustaining student interest. The initiatives aim to develop student leaders who inspire environmental vision and action in the community.

1. Sustainability
Initiative: Being Green
Student Level Green Team •
Mustard Seed School •
Hoboken, NJ •
Emily Ford Sytsma
Image Credit: Abby Liu, https://www.mustardseedschool.org

2. Sustainability Is More Than Green
❖ But environmental concern is at the
root of the sustainability movement.
❖ Sustainability means that “the things
we need to survive – food, clean air and
water, productive topsoil and others –
are in decline because they are being
used, exhausted or damaged faster than
nature can regenerate them” (The natural
step: Understanding the problem, n.d.).
❖ According to Paul Hawken (2007), the
beginnings of the movement of
millions working toward sustainability
worldwide were a core of
environmental groups.
Image Credit: http://cooperspur.com/files/2015/06/green-recycling-icon-2-1.jpg.441x441_28_0_7353.jpg

3. “Sustainability Is About Adaptability”
(OneSTL, 2013, p. 2).
❖ “Everything starts with
awareness” (The natural step:
Understanding the problem, n.d.).
❖ With awareness, individuals or
groups can make decisions that
“protect and enhance the
quality of water, air, land, and
biodiversity in order to
maintain a healthy population,
economy, and
ecosystem” (OneSTL, 2013, p. 90).
Image Credit: http://5starplr.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/green-kids.jpg

4. OneSTL: A Model Plan
❖ After surveying the community, the
following environmental, or green, goals
were identified in OneSTL: Many
Communities. One Future:
1. Protect the quality of our natural
resources and environment.
2. Plan for and invest in green
infrastructure
3. Guarantee clean water for all citizens
4. Exceed clean air standards
5. Provide increased access to nature for
all citizens
6. Promote municipal sustainability
planning
7. Protect open areas (OneSTL, 2013, p. 91)
Image Credit: http://blog.preservationleadershipforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/arch-rendering.jpg

5. Goal 3: Guarantee clean water for all citizens.
❖ St. Louis’ identity is highly tied
to the rives and lakes in the
region.
❖ Stormwater runoff and
management is a huge issue
facing the city.
❖ Emphasis is made in the area
on rainscaping.
❖ Policies support early adopters
of vision to impact at very local
levels.
Image Credit: http://www.wilmingtonnc.gov/portals/0/documents/Public%20Services/Stormwater/SW%20images/DSCN0869.JPG

6. Goal 4: Exceed Clean Air Standards
❖ St. Louis currently falls short of national
clean air standards, affecting the
environment and also health of residents.
❖ An effort at public awareness is aimed at
prompting change in transportation
choices for the heavily populated area.
❖ Municipalities are encouraged to lead the
way by monitoring municipal vehicle
fleet, improving transportation
alternatives, and education for residents.
❖ Regional commitment to clean air
policies shows residents that
sustainability is “‘the way we do things
around here’” (The natural step: Understanding
the problem, n.d.).
Image Credit: http://news.vanderbilt.edu/files/clean-air-fair.jpg

7. Goal 7: Protect Open Areas
❖ A recent trend toward urban sprawl has
lead to “disinvestment and increased
segregation in parts of the urban core,
as well as development in the areas of
ecological significance” (OneSTL, 2013, p. 19).
❖ HUD’s Livability Principles encourage
investment in existing communities
rather than pursuing new development
(Six Livability Principles, n.d.).
❖ Protecting open areas “prevents the
systematic physical degradation of
nature and natural processes
consumption” required to expand
infrastructure (The Natural Step, n.d.).
Image Credit: http://cuer.law.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/3635170107_aabfe31d45.jpg

8. Goal 1: Protect the Quality of Our
Natural Resources and Environment
❖ This is the goal on which the Sustainability
Initiative will focus, specifically regarding
the objective to develop a culture that
understands and values regional and
local sustainability (OneSTL, 2013, p.92).
❖ Unless there is a widespread culture that
desires and values the sustained efforts
required to move toward a change in the
way we use natural resources, these goals
may not transfer into the next generation.
❖ Strategies suggested by the OneSTL plan
include conducting “robust citizen
engagement” and promoting
sustainability practices at local events,
along with efforts at increasing
partnership between agencies (OneSTL, 2013, p.
92).
Image Credit: http://llerrah.com/images4/MB_EARTHDAY2_TOP.jpg

9. Hoboken, NJ
❖ Like St. Louis, Hoboken is a
city defined by its relationship
with the river.
❖ Densely populated and
overdeveloped, transportation
and green space are key issues.
❖ OneSTL can serve as a
framework for
recommendations for
sustainability policy.
Image Credit: http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/01/04/realestate/20150104-LIVING-slide-35WI/20150104-LIVING-slide-35WI-videoSixteenByNine1050-v2.jpg

10. Proposed Sustainability Initiatives:
Student Green Team
Mustard Seed School
Initiative 1: Found student level Green
Team during December Mini-Term as a
middle school elective that will transform
into an after-school club in the spring. This
group begins a process of explorations of
local environmental issues and resources.
Initiative 2: After a process of discernment,
this group undertakes awareness building
campaign for school and community
Image Credit: http://www.customink.com/photos/system/images/32829/large/GreenTeamSummit2014.jpg?1425342955

11. Rationale for Student Involvement:
❖ The City of Hoboken participates in
Sustainable Jersey and has formed a
municipal Green Team. According to
City Planner, Chris Brown, this Green
Team is open to partnering with schools.
❖ Several local Sustainable Jersey efforts,
such as composting and plastic bag
reduction, could be supported by the
school and by families, meeting
certification requirements for the city.
❖ According to Kokkarien and Cotgrave
(2013), students who participated in
hands-on environmental activities
reported higher pro-sustainability
attitudes.
Image Credit: Abby Liu, https://www.mustardseedschool.org

12. Students research and explore local
environmental issues and then engage in the
Discernment
Process
❖ What do you value?
❖ What should be changed?
❖ What should be
preserved?
(OneSTL, 2013, p. 58).

13. Possible Student-Lead Initiatives
❖ After experimenting with classroom
vermicomposting, the students might lobby for a
school-wide composting program.
❖ After meeting with Hoboken’s Green Team to
review the business plastic bag survey, the students
may sponsor a contest for local children to design a
reusable shopping bag to be sold in local businesses
and to school families.
❖ After participating in a hands-on Enviroscape
activity with the Watershed Ambassador, students
may create a campaign to reduce pollution in
stormwater runoff.
❖ After meeting with city planners to learn about
flooding issues, the students may plant and
maintain a rain garden or rain barrels on the school
grounds.
❖ After meeting with City Hall representatives to hear
about the new local bike sharing program, students
may organize a bicycle celebration to encourage
families to cycle to and from school.
Image Credit: http://livegreenhoward.com/rain-barrel-adventures/

14. Possible Challenges
❖ Resistance from peers, families,
and community to make
changes in habits and practices
❖ Busyness and desire for
convenience in families with
two working parents
❖ Sustaining student energy
Image Credit: http://blog.ldiagent.com/wp-uploads//2012/11/ConvenienceRoadSign.jpg

15. Raising Up Leaders
❖ Students will serve as green
role models for peers, parents,
and school community.
❖ By addressing issues of
awareness, students will, as
Posner and Kouzes (2002)
describe, inspire a shared
vision for environmental
concern and action.
Image Credit: Abby Liu, https://www.mustardseedschool.org

16. Resources
❖ Hawken, P. (2007). Blessed unrest: How the largest movement in the world came into being,
and why no one saw it coming. New York: Viking.
❖ Kokkarinen, N., & Cotgrave, A. J. (2013). Sustainability literacy in action: Student
experiences. Structural Survey, 31(1), 56-66. doi:http://dx.doi.org/
10.1108/02630801311304422
❖ Kouzes, J., & Posner, B. (2002). The leadership challenge (3rd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
❖ The Natural Step: Understanding the Problem. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://
www.thenaturalstep.org/sustainability/understanding-the-problem/
❖ OneSTL: Many communities. One future. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.onestl.org/
media/site/documents/reports/onestl_plan/OneSTL_FinalPlan-web.pdf
❖ Six Livability Principles. (n.d.). U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Retrieved from http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/
economic_resilience/Six_Livability_Principles