Sustainability Committe Kicks off Year Conservation Efforts Encouraged
By Maddie Broder '09
News Staff Reporter
How much paper does Choate recycle every year? The signs that are up around campus, printed on 100% consumer-recycled paper, tell us more than just the tons of air pollution saved each year at the school. The Choate Sustainability Committee, which began last spring, is kicking off this school year with a renewed focus on educating students and faculty about the pressing environmental problems the world faces today and what the Choate community can do to help combat this pre-eminent global issue.
The senior administratiors formed the Sustainability Committee to address a growing interest from students and faculty alike to add sustainability awareness and action to the already environmentally friendly activities and practices happening at the school. The committee members include: chair Rick Saltz, chief financial officer; Paula Welsh, head of facilities; Steve Cahoon, head of energy management; John Bjorkdahl, environmental services;
Amy Salot, associate dean of students and head of residential life; Alicia Mysiorski, head of dining services; Katrina Linthorst-Homan, science teacher; sixth former Nick Greenway ’08; and fifth former Sofia Gearty ’09. The Sustainability Committee meets every two weeks.
Even before the committee formed, Choate was promoting student awareness of sustainable activities. The Green Cup Challenge, an energy-conserving contest among thirteen New England preparatory schools, took place last February, and the Hydro Cup challenge, a similar contest measuring water conservation, followed in the spring.
Education is one of the primary goals of the Sustainability Committee. It is hoping to turn the energy saving practices adopted during the challenges into daily habits. The new educational challenge the Sustainability Committee has recently presented to the school has two parts. The first component is a request to students to submit facts that relate to environmental sustainability, and the best facts will be put up on fliers around campus. Students who submit the best facts will be excused from Sunday detention for one weekend. The second part of the challenge is a contest for the best Choate Sustainability logo design. The prize for the chosen logo will be a gift certificate to Half Moon. Thus far, the committee has received a few logo drawings and many fact submissions.
“The goal of the competition is to raise overall awareness on campus, and more specifically to encourage student involvement,” said Ms. Homan, one of the faculty members serving on the Sustainability Committee. “Different students may come up with interesting facts that other people won’t have known. And facts coming from the community will hopefully generate excitement about Choate’s movement in this direction.”
Plans for the Year
The Sustainability Committee has much more planned for this school year, including a repeat of the Green Cup and Hydro Cup challenges. There will also be movement towards increased local food purchasing, a practice the dining facilities have already been doing for some time now. The committee also wants to raise awareness among students of how much food is wasted in the dining hall after meals.
“We might not think about food waste as an environmental issue. But for example, if whole slices of pizza or whole uneaten sandwiches are thrown out, we need realize that this is a waste of resources,” explained Ms Homan. “It all adds up. Think of the energy to cook the pizza, and the fuel to bring the food to our dining hall, and even the water needed for the cow that ultimately provides the cheese.”
Another major awareness goal for the Sustainability Committee is recycling. The committee has made recycling easier for students and faculty by placing more bins in classrooms and around campus. Moreover, the committee is going to try to broaden students’ understanding about what can be and is recycled at the school. For example, most students do not know that the school recycles old dormitory and classroom furniture instead of throwing it away. Choate already has a well-developed recycling program and educating students and faculty to take advantage of this program will save resources.
The committee is targeting this type of sustainable thinking. On her personal goal for Choate, Gearty ’09 said: “It would be great if everyone on campus was thinking about energy and conservation of resources on a daily basis.” Gearty ‘09 is a Sustainability Committee member and co-president of Students Against Climate Change.
Others Join the Cause
The Sustainability Committee is not alone in its quest to heighten conservation awareness at the school. “I’ve urged the Student Council to pick up where we left off last year with the Green Cup and Hydro Cup challenges,” said Mr. John Ford, dean of students and student council advisor. Like the Sustainability Committee, the Student Council is trying to come up with ideas to promote energy conservation around campus. The Council also wants to draw attention to the amount of food waste that amounts in the dining hall. Mr. Ford said that “no food tray” and “limited glass” days could possibly take place in the dining hall this year. The Student Council is looking to provide an alternative to plastic water bottles at public events as well.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what the Student Council and the committee can do together,” said Mr. Ford. “The large scale environmental awareness we’ve had on campus so far has been short-lived. Too much of the community is unaware and indifferent. We need a constant reminder to get consciousness ingrained into our culture.”
Mr. Saltz, chief financial officer and chair of the committee, spoke on the purpose of the Sustainability Committee: “We want to enhance environmentally conscious student activities at the school. A financial force is not the driving force of what we’re trying to do; it’s not a dollars and cents issue. I’d love Choate to make every decision with a sustainability understanding, even if it’s an inconvenience because it’s an inconvenience for the greater good.”
Interest in sustainability practices goes beyond the students and faculty who live on campus. The goals of the Sustainability Committee have become increasingly high priorities for the Board of Trustees and the alumni. At the last Board Meeting there was a seminar on global warming, and many alumni are giving money to fund environmentally sound projects, such as the new dormitory construction on campus. Similarly, a hybrid car was purchased for campus security last year. Mr. Saltz noted that it’s always helpful to have some financial support behind these sorts of projects.
“This is the important challenge of the twenty-first century,” said Mr. Shanahan. “In describing the Sustainability Committee, we are not just thinking about activities that will help the environment, but about sustained efforts for the energy conservation cause. Having thoughtfulness from as many people in the community as possible is important. We’d like to see Choate at the forefront of global action and education.”
Ms. Salot agreed that practicing globally sound and sustained habits would be a key to solving this world issue: “The habits developed in high school stay with you for life.” she said. “This issue is part of the personal integrity emphasized in the school’s motto. We’re trying to get our students to leave Choate as better people for our planet.”
“The list goes on and on of what we’re changing on campus,” said Mr. Ford. “The vehicles, fluorescent lighting, cleaning products, grounds maintenance. We as a community should never lose sight of all the little things we can do, and we should put our good intentions to work. To look back and say Choate is making continued progress and to never look at an aspect of our lives as wasteful… that would be the goal.”
With the creation of the Sustainability Committee and emerging student support for sustainable practices, it seems the school is on its way towards reaching such a goal.
