Sustainable Life

Sustainable Life utilises student participation to teach about sustainability whilst promoting greater environmental consideration within schools.

Through improving attitudes towards sustainability through information technology, it is hoped students will adopt similar behaviour throughout their lives, from their travel to and from school to energy use.

Sustainable Life operates through:

• Sustainability films and lesson plans
  Downloadable films supported by a series of lesson plans tackling issues of environmental sustainability including climate change, renewable energies and photosynthesis. These films can be broadcast across your school's screens on interactive whiteboards in classrooms.

• Pupil evaluation of School's IT carbon footprint
  With a greater understanding of sustainability, students are tasked with evaluating the impact of their school's information technology. Having counted all items of electrical equipment throughout the school, pupils enter the information into The Life Channel's specifically developed Online Carbon Calculator. The Carbon Calculator allows students to work out how many tons of CO2 their school's information technology produces, thus establishing its carbon footprint as well as a monetary figure which the school would need to raise and contribute to carbon offsetting projects to become a sustainable school.
  

• Selection of carbon offsetting initiatives
  Having evaluated their school's carbon emissions and determined the level of financial contribution required to offset them, students decide upon a series of available offsetting projects to contribute their funds to. The Life Channel works with Carbon Footprint, a specialist in carbon offsetting, to distribute funds to renewable energy projects in the UK and internationally.
  

• Student Fundraising
  There's nothing like a good fundraising event to help raise awareness and sustainability is no different. It may be a serious subject but there is great scope for some fantastic fun when it comes to the subject of sustainability such as fetes or fancy dress competitions.
  

• Certification and Media Coverage
  Once your school reaches its target, you will receive a Sustainable Life certificate alongside pictures and information on the projects your school and students have helped realize.

As a result of this activity, your students will have a far greater understanding of environmental sustainability and carbon offsetting. However, the Sustainable Life initiative does not stop here. Sustainable IT, Reuse IT and Live IT & Learn enable your school to make further efforts to ensure your information technology is even more sustainable.