Costa Verde International School Celebrates Earth Day

Earth Day, actually Earth Week, was celebrated at Costa Verde International School in Sayulita this week. CVIS joined with over 1 billion people from over 190 countries to participate in the 45^th annual Earth Day celebration. Earth Day started in 1970 in the United States with 20 million supports and it fed off the energy of the anti-war movement in the US. There was a new consciousness about air and water pollution emerging at that time and as a result the modern day concept of environmental protection was birthed. The creation of Earth Day helped to bring this all together. At CVIS, we honor this important celebration!

So, why is Earth Day, or Dia de la Tierra as it is known locally, an important day to celebrate. As a school with an ecological ethos it is important for us to connect our students to the bigger, global picture. The honoring of Earth Day that happens around the world is a perfect illustration for our students of the importance of working together to support a healthy planet, and for our students to see that people all over the world are doing good, environmentally supportive work. Earth Day gives us a chance to say to our students, “You see all the incredible work people from all over the world, from all walks of life, in all kinds of different environments are doing? They also get to see what you are doing so let’s keep doing our part!” For us, Earth Day is important to help raise awareness of the impact we have on the environment and how we can minimize this impact. Ultimately the message is a hopeful one and we want to empower our students in knowing that there is always something that can be done, no matter how small that action may be.

We started out the week with an endearing original song written by one of our kindergarten teachers, Maestro Manuel, and sung by our kinder and Grade 2 students. Later in the day on Monday, students took to the streets to share some information about Earth Day with local businesses. Each business visited also received a plant as a gift and reminder of the importance of caring for the entire environment, including the small things like seedlings and saplings.

Tuesday students hit the streets again, but this time to show their commitment to having a clean, pollution free community. Students did a community clean up that involved the local neighborhood, the plaza, the campo, and the beach. At the beach, Secundaria students installed a recycling bin that they created out of used plastic bottles (by EL Break). They will also soon be installing a cigarette butt container in hopes of creating awareness about the negative effects of cigarette butts on marine life (not to mention the impact on humans trying to enjoy the beach!).  

Wednesday, Earth Day, was a wonderful day at school.  Each class spent time during the day engaged in earth-friendly projects.  Activities included making bags our of single-use plastic bags, and creating cloth bags out of old clothing,

Thursday was a day dedicated to local businesses and organizations. Ten local businesses and organizations were invited to an informational fair to share how their business operates in earth-friendly ways. Participants included Mundo Verde (architects and construction), Organic Select, and Campamento Totuguero Sayulita. Others who were invited, but unable to attend included Eco-Sayulita, Orangy, Javier’s Eco cleaners, and SayulitAnimals. This was wonderful and informative, and we greatly appreciate these organizations for taking time to share with us; but more importantly, we appreciate them for doing such great work! We also had a special visitor—James Pimbram from the Eco Warrior Foundation! It was amazing to have this inspirational environmental hero on campus sharing his passion for preserving and improving the environment! He will also join us on Saturday for our annual Surf-a-thon (Saturday starting at 10am at the main beach—come out and join the fun!)

We look forward to celebrating Earth Day each and every year here in Sayulita and hope to support the important work we all need to do to keep this town healthy and happy.  Here’s to mother nature and all her gifts!