At Green School Bali, we are a ‘community of learners making our world sustainable’ – this is our Mission. This means everyone at Green School learns together, solves problems together, and celebrates life together – students, teachers, parents, the campus staff, and definitely our gardeners. Ibu Indra is an integral member of our community at Green School Bali, where we provide nature-based learning opportunities inside and outside of the classroom, and where our gardens are places of REAL connections to nature and REAL learning

Ibu Indra spends her days lovingly planting and nurturing permaculture gardens at the Green School campus in Bali. Each day, she says she checks on the health of ‘her babies’, pruning, prepping, watering and taking out the weeds that are stealing nutrients from the soil. 

Inserting bamboo sticks into the earth to support the tomato and cucumber plants, Ibu Indra smiles brightly. “I feel joy when I see my baby growing healthy, and sadness when a plant is not doing well. I check the soil and water and evaluate all the choices I have made for it. Harvesting a vegetable you have grown with so much love and care is very different from buying it from a market,” she says. 

Her days often begin with a visit to the Green School kitchen where she finds out what fresh ingredients the cooks require from her garden that day. From eggplant to basil, she harvests produce on the day it will be cooked so that the community always has fresh, organic ingredients from the garden for lunch. Every second Friday, she prepares flowers, fruits, and vegetables that can be sold at the school’s farmers’ market. 

Her days are busy. When she’s not at the Green School, Ibu Indra is harvesting Champak (Magnolia Champaca) along with her husband, which they sell in the local market. The demand for Champak flowers increases during holy days and full moon ceremonies, when the Balinese people pray and make offerings of fruit, food and flowers.

On a normal day, Ibu Indra wakes up at 3am. She collects all the Champaks and puts them into baskets to sell in the market. Before joining Green School, Ibu Indra supported her family by making roofs with grass called ilalang. She also worked at a small hair salon and a laundry. For her, joining Green School meant two things; she was able to do something she had a deep love for, while also providing a better future for her son. It is her love for her family, especially her son, that drives her.  

“I have been with Green School since it opened, having worked at Green Camp, Kul Kul Farm, and the school. I am happy I found work I love and my son is able to study at Green School. My dream is for him to one day attend university abroad,” she says.

Ibu Indra says she feels the happiest when she is in her garden surrounded by nature. “The area I look after is very big and I often discover new plants,” she says. But her work is not limited to tending to the garden. She also supports students learning about permaculture and gardening. “We learn from each other. I get to practice my English when working with the students,” she says.

In her work, Ibu Indra is committed to Green School’s ‘green’ philosophy. She makes several trips to the compost station each day and cannot imagine using chemical pesticides in the Green School gardens.

“I dream of a day when there will be no more pesticides in the world and we can return to organic forms of agriculture and gardening. I want to preserve not just our own plants but all the micro-living things in the earth,” she says.

(This article is the second of our four-part International Women’s Day series, celebrating inspiring women of Green School. Read our first article on Dita, Robotics Coordinator, here)

The post Ibu Indra & the Gardens of Green School appeared first on Green School Bali.

Listen to this episode of Authentic Learning from our Head of Upper School, Glenn Chickering.

In this episode, Glenn interviews Green School parent Chris Thompson. Green School’s mission is to be a “Community of Learners Making our World Sustainable.” Parents comprise a large part of that Community of Learners and Chris Thompson is a prime example of that.

Like most highly-engaged parents at Green School, Chris does not just drop his kids at the bamboo gates. Chris is a tireless member of the community – from mentoring students, participating in parent association meetings, providing school tours and so much more. Chris is also the former Managing Director of Green School, former Board Member, and has been an active member of the community since 2009.

In this episode, Chris shares his experiences and thoughts on what authentic education looks like and Chris’ story of how he ended up at Green School and what keeps him and his family here.

The post Authentic Learning: A Parent Perspective appeared first on Green School Bali.

Humble champion, passionate changemaker, and a member of our tribe of Middle Schooler’s, Hazel took to the stage in Green School’s beautiful bamboo assembly hall, Sangkep, to share his experience joining and winning an international windsurfing competition.

“I love spending time in the ocean, but my heart is broken to see trash polluting the ocean. I want to use my talent in windsurfing not only to activate water sports prestige but also to advocate for clean oceans. It is home to millions of water creatures and also my favorite place to play with the waves and fight the wind on my surfboard.”

Hazel, Green School Local Scholars Student, Grade 7.

Hazel has already won two international windsurfing competitions in Australia and Singapore in the first quarter of 2018. In January 2018, Hazel joined the 2018 Australian Youth and Oceania Championship in Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, Australia, and sailed into first place, bringing home the gold medal. Hazel went on to win first place at the 37th Singapore Open Windsurfing Championship 2018 at the National Sailing Centre, East Coast, Singapore.

Hazel has been studying at Green School since 2013 under the Local Scholarship Programme. He is one of the current 39 scholar students who study full time at Green School through the generous support of donors from all over the world.

“Our family is very grateful for Green School’s Local Scholarship Programme that allows Hazel to get an international education, which otherwise is unaffordable for our family. I wish I could do more to give back to the community. Our family is very blessed to part of this beautiful community.”

– Wida Kusumaningtiyas, Hazel’s mother

Hazel’s talent has been outstanding in many different sports fields. Back in 2015, he joined the Screen Contest (Optimist), a sailing competition in Bali where he secured the 2nd place. From there, he joined the 2015 National Youth Screen Championship (Optimist A Boys) in Jakarta and brought home the bronze medal.

Besides the water sports, he also loves cycling and basketball. He won a local bike racing competition (BMX and MTB) for all schools (Primary to High School) around the Badung Regency, Bali. Hazel represented Green School and won the 1st place in the BMX Racing Competition in 2016.

Hazel also shines brightly on the basketball court. He actively participates the Green School BSSA (Basketball, Soccer, and Activities) Tournament.

“Hazel is such a brilliant sports boy, and more than that I can see his passion for sports and his persistence and discipline to do better and better each day.”  

– Jade McGraw, Green School Sports Teacher

Through training, perseverance and a love for the ocean, Hazel’s winning streak began at a regional level. From winning the second place in a windsurfing competition in Southeast Sulawesi to winning the first place in the Sailing National Championships in Central Java, Indonesia in 2017.

In the same year, he won two regional competitions: the third place in South East Asia Championship in Singapore and Thailand Windsurfing Championship Open.

Hazel’s family is also active members of Green School Community. Green School supports opportunities for parents to get involved and contribute their expertise and experience to our multicultural, multi-generational, community of learners. Hazel’s mother, Wida Kusumaningtiyas, actively volunteers in KemBali, Green School’s recycling center. Together with other parents, Wida has been working to create innovative programs to improve the waste management at Green School and the surrounding villages, towards a zero-waste community.

Hazel’s sports talent and discipline is extraordinary, so too is his commitment to the preservation of our blue planet. Spending so much of his life in the ocean, Hazel is up close and personal with the environmental challenges and was awarded an encouragement award as Clean Oceans Warrior by ROLE (Rivers, Oceans, Lands, Ecology) in Waterman’s Week Bali 2017. 

Help us to help more local students to be changemakers now, like Hazel.

The post Windsurfing Champion Changemaker appeared first on Green School Bali.

It feels like I have been in Benoa Harbor more in the past month than I have in the past few years. The first time I visited the old dock was during the mid-term break to board the Peace Boat and the second time was to visit Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior. Both were incredible & interesting journeys on their own.

We spent six days on the Peace Boat with a small Green School delegation that stood out so awkwardly (at first) among the 1000+ all Japanese people. Six days never went by so fast and we never made so many new friendly friends! Waking up every morning to peek out the window and see absolutely nothing other than blue was such an experience. As an ocean advocate, it was a great way to be reminded again of why I do what I do. All kinds of blue, the sky, the ocean – that was all you could see – no land in sight, I mean… What. A. Feeling.

And that was only the beginning of each day as we cruised (I mean literally cruised, as the boat was huge). From Bali, past Singapore to Malaysia, our days were filled with activities. I’m pretty sure I heard that a normal day on board hosts up to 60 events! Events are run by the Peace Boat organization, but people on board are also encouraged to share their knowledge and teachings. So from Yoga classes, we bounced to ballroom classes, we watched a basketball game and even went to the cinema! One of our students from Green School led a capoeira class and brought together a really cool group of people! It was a lot of fun. On top of it all, we also hosted a discussion session on board sharing the many highlights of Green School: Bye Bye Plastic Bags, Green School’s Bio-Bus, Kul Kul Connection, etc – everyone had so many questions, all were so curious having previously toured the school when the boat was docked for the day in Bali.

Mr. Miyagke was one of the many special people we met during our stay on the peace boat. Alongside all the other interesting programmes on board, the Peace Boat also acts as a platform against nuclear weapons. Having a strong Japanese foundation, the boat advocates for a nuclear-free world. We were able to meet and talk to one of the Hibakusha’s, which is the name given to the atomic bomb survivors of Hiroshima. He told us about his experience, being sixteen at the time on his way home in the metro – it was a raw and intimate experience. The average age of a Hibakusha is now 80 years old, so you can imagine the authentic voices and stories of that time are becoming less and less. Mr. Miyagke shared with us how he felt, and he said it was important that the youth continued the fight for a world free of nuclear weapons. He believed in us, but he also knew it wasn’t going to be easy or quick.

We also learned about their Ocean Youth Programme – which was very fascinating. At the end of last year, they selected Youth from small island nations who are on the frontlines of climate and ocean change. The Peace Boat hosted them on board and they cruised from Barcelona to New York, making stops in Lisbon, Bordeaux, London, Edinburgh, and Reykjavk – an intense three weeks! These young changemakers where selected because of their incredible efforts to stand up for the oceans back where they come from. You can watch a teaser to the extremely beautiful mini-documentary about the Ocean Youth Programme journey.

And we even got to sneak in some pool time, trust me, my tan is restored!

Our second visit to Benoa Harbor came shortly after and was a little more serious. We, sadly, didn’t leave the dock towards the ocean. However, the Rainbow Warrior is always a sight. When we went to visit, hundreds of others came to see it as well – students, teachers, people from far and wide. We led a group discussion and a workshop amongst lots of other creative solutions and activists on the island. And although it was in the blaring sun, and although we all know the heat has been serious these past few days – climate change confirmed. It is so important that these gatherings happen, bringing together all these fascinating and inspiring people.

I like the idea of boats being that platform: “Sailing for change”. When you’re on a boat, you literally have nowhere else to be than where you are. I felt that so strongly on the six days out at sea, and it was only six days, imagine how your thinking starts to evolve when you stare out the window for over a month, over a year with the only blue to see! I love it! I love it! I love it!

Side note but an important note:
Unfortunately, on both the “blue” visits, I could see plastic in the ocean, all these weird stuff, footballs, flip-flops, plastic bottles, and bags. How does it even get there? Where does your trash end up?

Author: Melati Wijsen, a Green School Graduate, Changemaker, and Co-Founder of global movement Bye Bye Plastic Bags. Watch Bye Bye Plastics Ted Talk. She has been at Green School since it first opened in 2008.

The post Sailing for Change appeared first on Green School Bali.

Green School Middle School Teacher, Esther Milanzi and Kiley Little, takes us inside her student’s most recent project and integrated Thematic Project, Plant The Planet.

What Was the Inspiration Of the Project?

Bringing global context and purposeful learning to the fore, the foundation of the Green School Thematics classes in Middle School are the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), released by the UN in 2015. These 17 global goals, focus on pressing global issues related to social, political, environmental and human rights.

In 7th grade thematics, we focus on goals related to Health, Healing and Well-Being.

In the first block of our school year, our unit was based around SDG #2 – End Hunger. Students viewed the documentary, “Starfish Throwers” as one of the learning activities in the six-week unit. This documentary follows three individuals – two based in America and one in India – who are agents of change in their respective communities. Each individual was actively trying to affect change in the lives of people who are hungry and impoverished. Students were particularly inspired by the story of Katie Stagliano and her crops. Katie was only 9 when she started to grow her own “krops” to help feed hungry and unnourished members of her own community. Her garden literally grew nationwide as it inspired others to do the same.

After watching the film, the students felt inspired to help those in need in our own local community and the idea of a 7th-grade edible garden blossomed.

The idea was to begin cultivating our own garden from which we could harvest crops that could be used to affect change in some way.

The name, “Plant the Planet”, came after a field trip to a nearby cooking school and food forest – New Earth Cooking – where students further came to understand the power, plausibility, and sustainability of planting, growing, and cooking your own food. They hope to affect change but also to share a message that if 7th-grade students can plant and harvest their own garden, others can too.

Can You Explain More About Thematics at Green School?

Green School has a unique pedagogy that operates under three frames of learning. The three frames are proficiency, experiential and thematic. The thematic frame is designed using an interdisciplinary approach engaging students using the Big Four multiple intelligences – intellectual, kinesthetic, artistic, and interpersonal. Middle School Thematics courses are planned into six week-units that integrate global awareness, history, science, literacy, and a variety of Green School skills. Projects throughout these units revolve around real-world themes, explore global issues, and encourage students to collaborate, communicate and learn together.

What Are Green School Skills and how were these woven into the project?

There are nine Green School skills that align with 21st century skills that each learning neighbourhood integrates in various ways. The edible garden project touches on many of the nine, but the three main skills this particular project helped students develop were: Activate, Problem Solve, and Collaborate. As a team, students developed a project plan to take action and make a difference. They created goals and timelines, and implemented processes to manage their time and those goals. In their smaller groups and at an individual level, students worked to find their role within the project, communicate, and collaborate within in their own smaller groups and as part of a larger group of thirty students.

End Goals 

The end goals of the Grade 7 thematics are for students to gain an understanding of issues and solutions to global hunger, sustainable agriculture, and food security. For students to connect the historical and present context of the impacts of farming on the environment while also understanding how the growing human population impacts the environment and the ecosystems within it. As the project continues, students will start to understand linear and circular economies and the sustainable use and management of forests and the habitats living within. They will also develop analytical and inquiry skills by completing research activities and real-world simulations. Furthermore, students will develop leadership skills through building trust, networking, and project management by empowering others and themselves to meet goals.

Check out the student-run blog Plant the Planet to follow our students progress, meet the gardeners, and hear stories from the garden.

Authors: Green School Middle School Teachers, Esther Milanzi and Kiley Little

The post Plant the Planet appeared first on Green School Bali.

This semester, a group of Green School high school students initiated the “Reefs are Our Future” project. Motivated by an understanding of the importance of reef systems and local problems, students studying marine ecosystems decided to get hands-on by exploring reef restoration ideas and practical solutions. Coral Reefs are one of the most threatened eco-systems.

The project was conducted as part of Green School’s LEAP Academy program, a project-based learning experience where high school students can choose their own project and immerse themselves in this for up to 6 weeks. LEAP Academy gives students the opportunity to ‘go deep’ on subject matter knowledge while honing and applying 21st-century learning skills: collaboration techniques, communication skills, and effective strategies for time management. More importantly, this 6-week journey not only results in more knowledgeable students, but they actually contribute to building something – real solutions to a problem.

High schoolers building the artificial coral reef.

Teamwork is an essential part of this project-based learning. The Leap 3.0 students (the name they gave themselves as the third generation of Leap Academy), headed to Beji Guwang Canyon for team building as well as the mindful site of Gunung Kawi to learn about its history. It was an important start to get to know each other, as they would work closely in the next 6 weeks.

Next came the deep-dive into research and planning. This can be a testing time, but teachers Noan Fesnoux, Mauricio Camacho, and Patrick O’grady (senior student) were always ready to guide them step by step towards accomplishing their goals.

Leap Academy students brainstorming their project with the teacher.

It is really amazing to see how well they have taken ownership of this project. Even yesterday we printed out flashcards to see how healthy reefs are. They have learned all the bio-indicators. They are looking at ways to raise funds for their free-diving course. They are feeling fulfilled and learning as they go.
Mauricio Camacho, Leap Academy Teacher

Connection and collaboration are two words that are heard regularly in team LEAP. Students learn about the power of collaboration, and in a joined-up world, knowing how to develop a mutually beneficial partnership with other organizations is a great skill to acquire. The Reefs are Our Future project saw students connecting, calling and dealing with real companies to influence them into supporting their project and, importantly, hosting their field trip and free-diving course (at a heavily discounted rate!)

This Reefs are Our Future project not only provides rich learning experiences for the young learners but is also a lot of fun. While diving and identifying a variety of fish and invertebrates as an indicator of the health or unhealthy ocean, they came across an octopus and were lucky enough to capture it on film. Take a look for yourself in this video.

(Video by Leap Academy team)

Time flies when you have fun – and so did the six weeks. Ultimately, the Leap 3.0 students designed and built artificial reef structures, new habitats for marine creatures in the North Bali ocean.

The Reefs Are Our Future project is ready to be placed in the North Bali Sea.

At the end of the project, the Reefs are Our Future team showcased their learning not by writing a report, but reflecting, sharing and demonstrating learning to our school community. The students showcased the culmination of their hard work and all they learned to the high school community from grade 9 to grade 12 and beyond. LEAP Academy also facilitated students to produce digital content such as blog stories, videos, podcasts, and photos so they can share their projects and the significance of ocean conservation across the globe.

Listen to their podcast:

In a nutshell, these were highlights of Leap 3.0 journey: they made connections with multiple major nature conservation organizations, raised money by running their own business in school, researched reefs and expanded our knowledge of environmental science, created an understanding of bio-indicators and keystone species, became PADI level 1 freediving certified and learned about biology in the process. As their learning legacy, they constructed their own artificial reefs and placed them in the ocean near Tianyar. We watch and wait, as nature now takes its course.

Through collaboration, creation and sharing real solutions for our beautiful oceans, this team leaves their legacy deep in the North Bali water.

The post Reefs Are Our Future appeared first on Green School Bali.

It’s a rainy Tuesday morning in Bali, and my six-year-old, Finley, is at her Primary Class assembly. Teachers are playing mellow acoustic guitar in the background, as the children are slowly ushered into the Sangkep – a wall-less bamboo-covered assembly hall.

The children settle into their places, crossed-legged on the woven mats on the floor, and along with my fellow parent friends and my morning coffee, I also take my seat. The children are welcomed by the Head of Primary School, Nicki Lorenzini, who leads the children through a reflection on two beautifully clear goals they had set at the beginning of the school year:

Be kind to others
Be kind to yourself

I soak up the smiles, giggles, and energy of the children as they start sharing their experiences of how they worked towards these goals. Kindness and all the social and emotional elements of education are part of the magic of Green School and are so aligned with my own parenting and educational values.

Green School Kindergarten Classroom

Interestingly, it’s one of the elements of the school that you don’t find on the brochures or on the website, and yet is at the heart of what this unique school and community are doing. It is visible and integrated, almost as if it is woven into the heart of the school. It is modeled by the amazing educators here and is right through the learning programme that is so carefully developed for each precious development stage.

“Kindness is woven into every aspect of the Early Years. We foster kindness with ourselves, kindness to each other as well as kindness to Mother Earth. The teachers’ model kindness in all of their interactions. Without kindness, how can we grow up green? Social and emotional development is at the heart of our Early Years program. Kindness is infused into each moment of the day.”

Russlee Panepinto, Green School Head of Early Years

Finley shaking hands with Ban Ki-moon when he visited Green School in 2014.

My daughter joined the Early Years Program when she was three, in the Pre-K Geckos class and was immediately embraced with open arms by the teachers in the warm, ‘nest’-like classroom. It is the only way I can attempt to describe the Geckos classroom – like a bamboo nest cocooning the children. The classroom is set-up to expand the early-years sensory and learning experience with all furnishings in it soft-edged, curved, with a beautiful sense of ‘flow’. There are no boxes or hard edges to the Early Years neighborhood. Classroom resources are carefully laid out in a menagerie of bamboo floor-height tables, dress up clothes, musical instruments, puzzles, books. All carefully placed to help students encourage and explore their imagination, build their curiosity.

Green School Early Years classroom

A colorful poster was a centerpiece of the classroom. Carefully crafted by all the little hands of the Geckos class students with each name carefully placed on it. The poster said: Gentle Hands. Nurturing these values from such a young age and really guiding our children to be more self-aware and build empathy, was not only encouraged but was central to all the things happening in Early Years.

The magical three years that Finley experienced in the ‘nesty’ neighborhood of Early Years has allowed her to blossom and grow into her best self. She is bright, articulate, artistic, sensitive, silly, but most of all she is kind. Finley understands the power of collaboration and empathy, in her own six-year mind. Sustainability does start with ourselves and our own self-awareness, and kindness is integral to this.

Finley and her Grade 1 classmates performing at the school’s weekly Assembly

As Finley has now transitioned into the Primary Neighbourhood of Green School, she has flourished and is loving the independence of being a First Grader. While she may be out of her nesty Early Years environment, there is still an emphasis on empathy and kindness throughout the Primary School program, as was reflected in the Primary Years assembly.

Photo above: Finley at her Kindergarten Graduation ceremony ‘stepping-up’ into the warm embrace of her new Primary School teacher.

After three years at Green School, I am still amazed that our weekend conversation is often peppered with the questions, “Why is there no school at the weekend mummy?”, “I want to go to school”. For Finley, when the school gong chimes, it means, yes! – it’s time to get to class. And for me, when it chimes at the end of the day, it is the start of the negotiation. Tears are even shed as Finley mounts her case to stay on campus – often until 6 pm! Herding Finley and her friends off campus seem to be the only moments of sadness in an otherwise happy school experience.

This has been my daughter’s educational experience so far. Her creative spirit is nourished daily, her sense of fairness and kindness is valued, her curiosity for the world and the surrounding world is fuelled.

This is our school experience. This is Green School.

Writer: Lee Ann McKee has been a parent at Green School for the last 3 years. A marketing consultant, writer, third culture adult (educated in 3 continents), and co-founder of stix-motivation through music, she moved to Bali with her family, from the hubbub of the city to live a more quiet, sustainable life.

The post Kindness At the Heart of Education appeared first on Green School Bali.

Bio Bus is one of the most successful student initiatives at Green School that provides experiential learning for the students. Green School Bio Bus offers solutions to health and waste problems around used cooking oil (UCO), and delivers real-world, integrated learning.

Today, Green School has four Bio Buses, but they have a bigger dream – to revolutionize the way Bali moves into a more sustainable way.

Help Green School’s Bio Bus make their dream of expanding sustainable transportation in Bali, Indonesia and beyond come to life: VOTE NOW

The post Greening Bali With A School Bus appeared first on Green School Bali.

In early December 2017, Green School was honored to receive four awards at the Reimagine Education Conference and Awards in Philadelphia, USA. The Reimagine Education Conference focuses on innovation in higher education in a number of categories. Green School was the only school in attendance representing Pre K-12 education.

“We were honored to be a part of this conference, which focuses on innovation in higher education in a number of categories. Green School was among a very few organizations in attendance focusing on Pre K-12 education.”

Glenn Chickering, Green School Head of Upper School, who represented the school to receive the awards in Philadelphia, USA.

Bio Bus, Green School’s sustainable transportation that runs on used cooking oil won the Gold Awards, a $5,000 credit for Amazon web services and a beautiful trophy. This award will support Bio Bus to expand its mission to provide sustainable transport services to Green School students and staff, engage with the broader community by offering solutions to health and waste problems around used cooking oil (UCO), and deliver real world, integrated learning to the youth.

Green School’s sustainable energy project Operation Rain Or Shine, which was funded with the ZAYED Future Energy Prize of US$ 100,000, won the Bronze Award. The ambitious, student-centered renewable energy project represents integrated and purposeful learning at its best. Applying systems thinking, scientific inquiry, analysis, design, physical challenge, team-work, communication and more, Operation Rain or Shine is a showcase to the world of renewable energy and student Green Leadership.

Green School also won the Bronze Award for the overall K-12 education. Green School is delighted to be recognized for its unique educational model, where students connect with nature and with communities, develop holistically with skills and competencies for the world of today and the future, learn entrepreneurial approaches to problem-solving and to apply the learning to make a real difference, now.

Last but not least, an additional Bronze Award was given to Green School for the overall Asia Pacific Region.

“From the jungle of Bali, we are delighted to have been recognized through these awards, especially for initiatives which have come to life through the support of many people. These additions to Green School’s collection of awards reinforce our school leading the path towards the 21st-century education. Being only nine years old, Green School is beyond thrilled to be recognized among plenty of big names, such as Harvard. These awards encourage us to keep disrupting the out-of-date education system and educate students with the hands-on and experiential learning to be change makers that provide real-world solutions.”

Kate Druhan, Chair of Green School Board of Management.

Learn more about Green School’s Learning program at our website: www.www.greenschool.org

The post Reimagine Education Awards appeared first on Green School Bali.

Bambi Awards, a media recognition established in 1948, are given to celebrities and other extraordinary people from Germany and around the world, honoring their significant contribution to the public. The BAMBI media prize is awarded by Hubert Burda Media, one of Europe’s leading publishing houses.

Melati and Isabel Wijsen at Bambi Awards 2017
Photo courtesy of Zimbio

Both high school students were recognized for their Bye Bye Plastic Bags (BBPB) initiative, a social movement to ban plastic bags in Bali since April 2013. Today, BBPB is a global movement with members in 15 countries.

Back in 2013, after attending a class in Green School about inspiring people like Nelson Mandela, Lady Diana, Mahatma Gandhi, the sisters thought, “What can we do as children living in Bali, what can we do NOW?” So, they came up with the initiative to ban plastic bags and make Bali plastic bag free in 2018.  

The movement soon became popular and gain public attention. In 2015, they set up a One Island One Voice campaign to clean up the beach. By 2017, they have an estimated 12,000 people who actively came to the beach clean-up event and collected 40 tons of garbage across 55 locations around the island.

The sisters have received a long list of awards for their activism against plastic pollution, but the Bambi Awards was one of the most beautiful recognitions for their work with BBPB. They dedicated the award to youth all around the world working hard to protect the mother earth.

Both island girls were thrilled to share the same stage with renowned people who have made significant contributions to the world such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hugh Jackman, Jaochim Gauck,Tom Jones, Claudia Schiffer, Helen Fischer, and Ai Wei Wei.

Melati and Isabel Wijsen with all other public figures winning the Bambi Awards 2017.
Photo courtesy of Bye Bye Plastic Bags.

When the sisters started the movement five years ago, they never expected to be recognized by the same awards with the world’s distinguished personalities from previous years including Muhammad Ali, Bill Clinton, David Copperfield, Harrison Ford, Tom Hanks, Audrey Hepburn, Michael Jackson, Nelson Mandela, and many more.

Melati and Isabel show how education for sustainability and youth empowerment could lead to a global movement. Next year, Melati Wijsen will graduate from Green School, but she would have left her legacy in our bamboo school and will continue to inspire youth around the world to protect the earth for the future generations. As the Bye Bye Plastic Bags team say, “Youths might be only 25 percent of the world population, but we are 100 percent of the future.”

Learn more about Bye Bye Plastic Bags 

The post Green School Students Win Bambi Awards appeared first on Green School Bali.