LCIS teachers and students proudly display the Eco-School Green Flag. From left to right : Lisa Greene (LCIS teacher stakeholder), Micheal Mindorff (Grade 11), Shannon O’Meara (Eco Club Leader, Grade 10), David Mindorff (LCIS teacher stakeholder) Daniel O’Meara (Grade 8), Nini Christiano (Grade 10), and Denise Mizell (LCIS teacher stakeholder)

New Providence, Bahamas - The Green Eco Schools flag flies now proudly outside the Lyford Cay International School (LCIS), a result of two years of planning, changing mindsets at the school and implementation of new environmental policies at LCIS.

The LCIS Eco Club has been working towards achieving the Green Flag Award since it’s inception in 2012. The Eco Club, has spearheaded several campus wide initiatives to help spread the “green” message as they moved towards Green Flag status. “It’s a real process,” said Denise Mizell one of the LCIS teacher stakeholders, “We followed a series of steps and we proved that we are committed to the environment. We have committed to continue to improve our carbon footprint and to help share the message of environmentalism,” she added. Since it’s formation, the Eco Club has done a complete inventory of the plants on the school’s seven acre campus and eliminated all invasive species, spearheaded a school wide competition to reduce electrical consumption on campus and established an on campus paper recycling program. “Our big picture goals are to limit the impact our activities have on the environment and to take action to improve the environment,” said David Mindorff, another LCIS teacher stakeholder.

Eco-Schools is the largest sustainable schools program in the world with over 40,000 registered schools in more than 50 countries across Europe, Africa, the Middle-East, Asia, the Caribbean, USA, Mexico and Brazil. In The Bahamas, BREEF (Bahamas Reef Environment Education Foundation) serves as the administrator for Eco-Schools. BREEF helps schools navigate the steps necessary to be awarded Green Flag Status. Schools must undergo rigorous self examination and be able to show how they have improved their school’s environmental impact through a series of seven steps including, setting up an Eco Committee in which students take significant responsibility, an environmental review, establishing an action plan and writing an school wide Eco Code. Once they have completed seven steps they are reviewed by BREEF who determines whether or not they should be awarded Green Flag Status.

“BREEF is very excited that two new schools in our Eco-Schools Bahamas Program have earned the international Green Flag Award this year. With a network of over twenty registered schools, we are sensitizing the ‘now generation’ to be more thoughtful about how we treat the environment that we need for our survival,” said Marcia Musgrove, National Coordinator, Eco-Schools (Bahamas) Program. Deep Creek Middle School (Eleuthera) led the way by becoming the first Green Flag school in The Bahamas. They were followed by

Hope Town Primary (Abaco), Forest Heights Academy (Abaco), Man-O-War Primary (Abaco), and St Andrew’s School (Nassau). LCIS (Nassau) and Every Child Counts School (Abaco) became the sixth and seventh schools in The Bahamas to earn the Green Flag in September 2014. “The national Green Flag assessment team was impressed with the extent and quality of initiatives by the LCIS Eco-committee and school community. Initiatives such as the 500 Acts of Green campaign, encouraging all students, staff and faculty to take personal action for the environment, result in a significant, collective impact. This is the essential goal of the worldwide Eco-Schools program. BREEF congratulates Lyford Cay International School for a job well done.” said Ms Musgrove.

“We have earned the Green Flag after a lot of hard work and now we have to maintain it,” said Mrs Mizell. LCIS has already designated September as “No single use plastic bottles” month and October as “Litter Free Lunch” month. “We will continue, as a school, to keep the Environment high of our list of priorities,” she added.

The Leader of the Eco Club, grade 10 student, Shannon O’Meara, summed it up best, “If what you're doing isn't fun, you'll never accomplish anything. So set your heart to something great and never give up, because, in the end, it’s worth it.”