Fortunately, sustainability in education has grown a huge amount in the last few years. Whether that’s creating more energy-efficient schools, providing cleaner air, or increasing environmental education. But there’s a long way to go. There is still a noticeable disconnect when we talk about teaching students about environmental responsibility and what is actually around them. Their learning spaces are full of furniture that will mostly end up in a landfill. What message does that send to the very students we’re trying to educate about sustainability, stewardship, and the future of the planet?
This is the question, myself, the Natural Pod team and like-minded partners: ChopValue, Unbuilders and Halfmoon, all local businesses in British Columbia, committed to environmental stewardship, took on to find or develop a solution. The answer we arrived at was to reuse reclaimed materials wherever possible. Through many conversations and sharing of ideas, the Better Together collection was born.
The collection consists of mixed materials that range from recycled chopsticks, reclaimed lumber, and linen textiles that make up foundational elements for learning spaces. These pieces not only honor sustainability and environmental education, but have also been designed to offer a welcoming sense of home for students. The intention is to provide all students with a warm and welcoming environment, where they feel safe, comfortable and can provide them the best chance to thrive in their learning.
Every element of the Better Together partnership collection is beautifully designed, sustainable and crafted with a durability and strength you can feel, created with renewable and recycled materials, and diverting them away from landfills to give them a new purpose and life.
The long-term mission is to organically bring more partners together as we build relationships, because we really are, better together. By collaborating in this way we can have a larger impact within education, bridging the connection gap for students between environmental responsibility and what they physically see and feel around them. This will foster their own commitment to becoming the sustainability leaders we all need and stewards of this planet.
Explore and learn more about the Better Together partnership collection here.
