Environmental education is on the rise in Costa Rica as a tool in the pursuit for sustainable development. The SCLC defines the environment broadly to include natural and human communities as part of one system. The SCLC's environmental educational program seeks to make the environment meaningful to the daily lives of local students and residents through a combination of classroom and hands-on learning geared toward issues such as forests, agriculture, and water quality.

Environmental education at the SCLC is an integral theme that is interwoven into nearly all activities through the after-school program, the high school scholarship program, eco-clubs at local schools, the women's group, ecotourism conservation projects, and GIS training for community planning.