Green Cup Challenge

The environmental awareness habits started in February did not die in March.  The Lower School took on a food waste study the first week in March which will continue after vacation.  Lower School teacher Kim Iorillo explains the project:

As part of our school's Green Cup Challenge, we are working to reduce food waste in the Lower School. In a nutshell, we are collecting data the first week in March (not telling the kids what we are doing) by sorting our food into one bin and napkins, milk containers, etc into another. (No liquid waste like soup- too messy to deal with). Our Green Bruins will help with sorting and weighing.

1. a trash bin is set up by the dishwashing room for paper goods
2. a second bin is there to scrape/dump solid food waste into
That's it. No explanation to the kids- just a new sorting system after lunch.

At the assembly the first week in March, head of the Lower School Katie Signer will present the challenge to the boys. Starting Monday, March 22nd, there will be grade level bins set up- hopefully by having grades compete to reduce waste, it will be more effective in increasing the awareness that we are throwing way too much food away.

Below is an explanation of February's...

 GREEN CUP CHALLENGE

During the month of February, our entire school will participate in a special contest designed to promote energy awareness and encourage energy saving habits. Thanks to leadership of our Upper School E-proctors and our Lower School Green Bruins, we will participate in an inter-school energy challenge. We will be seeking opportunities to cut down on unnecessary energy use and will be measuring our total usage as compared to years past. Our challenge is to reduce electricity use and Greenhouse Gas emissions, and to support greening efforts including recycling and water conservation.

To kick off the challenge in the Lower School, our Green Bruins created and shared a special video to encourage all of us to reduce our "carbon footprint." Click here  to take a look and get inspired!  If you do not have itunes-quicktime on your PC (Mac users have it installed) use this link to load it:  http://www.filehippo.com/download_itunes_32/download/2349e65a03a527ae16a68fed098c6549/

Above photo in Baker Theater with reusable/recylcable glo sticks

The kick off was a "Week in the Dark". While of course light was provided in the classrooms to ensure our boys can in fact do their work, any non-essential lights were turned off. Our commitment will continue beyond this first week but the tone will certainly be set. In addition, boys will be reminded to turn off the faucet while they wash their hands in order to conserve water. Parents are reminded to follow our "no idling" policy and our Student Council will be particularly focused on monitoring correct recycling habits. Assuming our outside temperatures do not plummet, we will also lower the heat in the buildings. Thank goodness for our brown sweaters in the Lower School and jackets in the other divisions!

At the same time, our fourth grade scientists will be investigating how to heat water using a solar powered thermal system. Not only will they save energy, but they will be learning the science behind it. What could be better?

Our message will be clear. A minor change can make a major difference, and as a team we can compete not only to win a trophy, but to protect our planet Earth.

Sustainability Coordinator is Guy Pratt.  Contact him at gpratt@brunswickschool.org with any questions about this project or other Sustainability efforts at Brunswick.