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Green & Sustainable
Green & Sustainable >> Going Green in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Students use recycled egg cartons to plant seeds.
The International School of Ulaanbaatar (ISU) is located in the capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar. With a population of 3 million, Mongolia is one of the least densely populated countries on the planet. However, almost half the total population reside within the capital, a city originally designed for 500,000 people. Ulaanbaatar still has a developing infrastructure and therefore lacks major facilities for recycling. The ISU community recognizes the challenges that arise from this unique situation and have taken action in a variety of ways.
In 2013, the Ecovengers Co-Curricular Activity (CCA) was founded to address some environmental challenges faced by the community. Facilitated by passionate teachers, students are encouraged to learn about and act on issues such as paper use and recycling, plastic waste, air pollution, and the importance of green plants to the environment. Since its inception, a number of new initiatives have been set up in partnership with members of our local community.
Ecovengers promotes reduction in the use of disposable products, including selling reusable mugs at an affordable price, encouraging the reduction of printing materials, the use and reuse of scrap paper in classrooms and our school copiers, and initiatives in our school cafeteria and cafe to reduce the sale of single-serve products such as containers of yogurt.
Even so, waste is inevitably produced. Through the Ecovengers CCA, our school community has explored and set up ways to reuse and recycle.
PLASTIC There is no national recycling center for plastic in Mongolia, so the Ecovengers work on a variety of initiatives to use and recycle plastic bottles and other plastic products. Ecovengers use bottles as pots for plants, and are currently pursuing a project to create furniture using plastic water bottles as an internal structure. Our art teach
ers collect and use plastic bottle caps for mosaic projects. Those bottles that cannot be reused are given to The Waste Management Disposal Organization of Ulaanbaatar, where they are melted down and re-compressed to make outdoor furniture.
PAPER Whilst we teach students about the importance of reducing and reusing paper, of course we still end up with a lot of paper and cardboard waste. Through contacts with the school community we found out about a local organization, named Betel. Betel collect paper waste from many organizations in Ulaanbaatar. In their own facility, they reduce paper waste to mulch, then press them into bricks that can be burned as fuel. Betel then donate the bricks to people living in the ‘Ger District’, an area of the city where people live in traditional Mongolian gers or yurts. This area does not have access to state heating and usually have to use poor quality coal to heat their gers. In a city that reaches temperatures of -40℃, these bricks provide a free, eco-friendly fuel supplement to help the city’s poorest stay warm in winter.
AIR POLLUTION Ulaanbaatar is situated in a bowl-shaped valley. As a result, pollution and particulate matter have a tendency to remain in the air throughout the city as opposed to disseminating into the wider atmosphere. This combined with the use of coal to heat gers and power electrical plants results in astronomically unhealthy air pollution levels throughout the city. The ISU Ecovengers import and sell pollution masks, partnering with a company called Vogmask, to allow the masks to be affordable. The Ecovengers also donate masks to the school guards and the street cleaners in our area of the city.
PLANTS As part of our ongoing investigation into the environment, the Ecovengers take responsibility for the growing, care and propagation of plants. This project not only teaches the students about the importance of the environment, but also how to take responsibility for and care for living things. The Ecovengers Indoor Garden is a paradise of plants that help to clean the air! The Ecovengers sell these plants to our school community, and the money raised helps to fund further Ecovengers projects.
In a time when climate change and environmental concerns are increasingly relevant, it is more important than ever to educate young people about their role in the care of our planet and involve them in meaningful action. The students in Ecovengers develop passion for this subject, and their passion in turn positively influences their classmates, teachers, family members, and the ISU community to take action. Gradually, we are choosing to make positive changes to protect our environment.
For more information about the Ecovengers at ISU, or for collaboration opportunities, please email j.northam@isumongolia.edu.mn or t.smith@ isumongolia.edu.mn
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