ECO Club Experiences Living Sustainably in the Bahamas

In January, nine members of the Environmental and Oceanography Club (ECO Club) visited The Island School and Cape Eleuthera Institute in the Bahamas on Eleuthera. Students got a real taste for what “living sustainably” is all about, as they were able to take what they are learning in the classroom and apply it through hands-on, real-world experiences. 

Students were required to take a break from their normal habits and adopt The Island School way. This included taking two-minute cold Navy showers, refraining from using single-use plastics, reducing cell phone and Wifi usage, eating only what they need and not what they want, helping others, and forging long-lasting relationships. Students also worked side by side with turtle researchers and participated in a beach clean-up that had them sorting through plastics that had drifted in from around the world — maybe even something they used at home in Miami. 

The Island School is an educational program that aims to address pertinent environmental issues facing the Bahamas, many of which are not dissimilar from those facing Miami, including invasive lionfish, plastic pollution, and water quality issues. The Islands School created the Cape Eleuthera Institute to expand its core research program and sustainable systems design initiatives. The mission is three-fold: develop a sense of place in students through immersion experiences in the natural and cultural environment; model sustainability of individual lifestyles, larger communities, and the systems that support them; and create an intentional community in which members are cognizant of their abilities, limitations, and effects on others.