Riding Bicycles to School

Climate change, resource scarcity and sustainability have been topics on everyone’s lips forever and a day. Similarly, here at SIS Friedrichshafen, the endeavour to establish a sense of awareness for the environmental situation has been ongoing for a long time now. Finally, in 2023, we were able to found our very first “Sustainability Group”.

Although the group is quite new, our school has been far from passive over the past years. In fact, aside from workshops, excursions, and lessons on the topic in subjects such as science, geography and economics, environmentally friendly behaviours have always been promoted and our teachers were the first to lead by example, for instance, by riding their bicycles to school.

Approximately half of our staff proudly travels to school by bike daily and has been doing so for years, looking to motivate others to do the same. Unfortunately, difficulties are unavoidable. Winter cycling, flat tires, dislocated or even broken bicycle chains and struggles carrying supplies as well as the need to bring a change of clothes in case of sweat or rain are indeed annoyances, yet our staff does not fail to make use of their bikes come rain or shine. Not only does biking help them start their day in a more positive manner by doing some physical activity and admiring the beautiful surroundings and the sound of chirping birds, it also hinders the waste of resources and the unnecessary release of carbon dioxide and other hazardous pollutants when it comes to shorter routes by car or public transport.

We firmly believe that students, particularly those who do not live too far away, should also take the initiative, if they have not already done so, and we would like to encourage them in their efforts. This will help them to gain autonomy and integrate some movement into their everyday lives, and at the same time they can contribute to reducing pollution and benefitting the environment.

How much of a difficulty can waking up 20 minutes earlier than usual be, especially when this is the reward?

In order to promote cycling to school, teachers are considering a bike repair club and SIS taking over one bicycle service per year for cyclists, both of which are valid ideas that we hope will be taken into consideration in the coming years.

To conclude, we are grateful to have individuals who take pride in this cause and can inspire students and colleagues to make small, simple changes to their daily habits that make a real difference.



Lavinia Pompei, Student Year 10