By: Navyaa Jain ‘23, Commentary Editor

In my first week as a freshman at NA, I heard a conversation that sums up the NA student body: two students wanted to attend a climate rally for high schoolers but were worried about missing school. Eventually, this small chat gained so much traction that a large group of students was able to make a strong showing at the climate strike, with the school supporting their decision to be civically involved. This event inspired a School Council voice proposal that guaranteed excused absences for students going to protests or other civic engagement events. All of these efforts are just a few examples of how NA students are dedicated to social justice. This passion for sustainability only increases each year with amazing student initiatives and strong faculty support. So, how has the conversation around sustainability grown at NA since my freshman year, and how can we keep it going?

The single biggest way that NA students get involved with sustainability is through clubs. Student initiatives for sustainability are consistently spearheaded by NA’s environmental club, also known as the Green and Blue Committee (GBC). Whether they’re hosting weekly discussions about climate change or planning their annual Eco-Summit, the club is always dedicated to educating the NA community. However, when the annual Community Service Council (CSC) theme was “Environmental Justice and Stewardship” last year, we saw more clubs engage in unique conversations about climate change. Some particularly interesting examples include the Public Health Group, GSA, POWER, and GBC’s discussion on “Gender and Environmental Health” or Food Club, Human Rights Club, and GBC’s meeting about “Food Insecurity & the Environment.” Other great sustainability initiatives were organized by Art Club, Young Democrats, Young Republicans, Ethics Club, and Think Tank.

Still, we haven’t just stopped at student clubs, taking our efforts all the way to the administration. The Sustainability Committee, comprised of faculty members and student representatives from EIT, School Council, and CSC, has been focused on reducing NA’s waste by introducing composting and conducting projects on food waste in our cafeteria. Similarly, the community service theme prompted NAPA to get involved with the students in an attempt to get our entire community engaged in sustainable service during the Day of Service. Finally, Shivan Kundra ‘23 and Alex Atlas ‘23, as part of their IB CAS project, pitched “Solar for NA” to the administration and Board of Trustees, rallying to implement solar panels and reduce the impact of the 190,000-kilowatt hours of electricity NA uses per month (check out more about the project in Silas Epstein ‘23’s article: “Solar for NA: Leading the Way to a Bright Future”).

With this focus on our extracurricular efforts, it’s important to address how we include sustainability in the classroom. NA sets out commitments for our curriculum, which include a commitment to teaching sustainability in every class. But, in such fast-paced classes where it already feels like there’s no time to breathe, how are we supposed to fit global warming into Pre-Calculus? True, it can often be a stretch to imagine such a conversation in every subject, but students should not have to take IB Environmental Science to learn about sustainability. Instead, when we talk about Theodore Roosevelt in AMEX or APUSH, we should not forget to mention his efforts to improve conservation. Similarly, in freshman Biology, we should pay attention to how carrying capacity applies to humans in our changing environment. Even though students might think the curriculum isn’t a “student initiative,” there’s always room to voice your opinion as an NA student.

With so much going on, you might think that NA students have run out of ways to rally for sustainability—but that’s not the NA spirit. Recently,  School Council, GBC, Fashion Impact Club, CSC, the Sustainability Committee, and NAPA joined together in Stop&Swap to address textile waste and the harmful effect of fast fashion. To get involved, students donated laundered clothing that they no longer wore throughout Spirit Week, and exchanged them for up to three free pieces at the Homecoming Stop&Swap tent. One of the organizers, Svan Mura ‘24, says, “We collected several bins of clothes from NA students, and the majority of them were taken by NA students and families on Homecoming Day, really showing the enthusiasm NA has for these kinds of sustainable community projects. We’re hoping to do another one in the spring, so keep holding on to your old clothes!” Remember that sustainability is an ongoing conversation that touches almost every aspect of our lives; thus, our community will always find new ways to make NA more sustainable.