OUR PHYSICAL SPACE
Working with Stephanie Foster from Fostering Sustainability , a physical space sustainability audit was completed . The objective was to provide a baseline measure of actionable environmental and carbon footprint benchmarks , and then to identify recommendations to reduce our carbon footprint .
The findings also provide a foundation upon which the School can develop a comprehensive Climate Action Plan to reduce our carbon footprint and support more sustainable actions over the long term . By understanding where we are today , we can look forward to creating a vision of sustainability goals for the future .
RECOMMENDATIONS
Actions resulting from the audit will be organized into five pillars — Conservation and Demand Management , Electrification , Renewable Energy , Decarbonizing the Supply Chain , and Climate Adaptation and Resilience — to form the foundation of our carbon reduction plan .
Overall , the recommendations include :
• Create a Sustainability and Climate Action Plan with goals to reduce the School ’ s greenhouse gas emissions
• Improve energy management to reduce energy use and increase energy efficiency
• Increase water conservation
• Increase efforts to manage transportation impacts such as carbon offsets
• Improve waste management
• Reduce paper consumption and food waste
• Increase green purchasing
• Continue the restoration of the Woods , and implement on-site composting of yard waste
WHAT ’ S NEXT ?
The School and the Board of Governors are working together to establish a comprehensive sustainability plan , which will outline resource requirements and define the scope of our School ’ s ambitions in this area . One option under consideration is the Climate Action Accelerator Program ( CAAP ), a three-year collaborative program that utilizes a multidisciplinary team of students and staff to create and implement a whole-school climate action plan ; this program has been used successfully by other ISABC schools .
The report ’ s recommendations are multi-faceted , with many requiring implementation over several years . For next year , in addition to the collaboration between the School and the Board to set up a path to a sustainability plan , the School will be focused on a number of more straightforward but important initiatives . These include reducing waste across campus – including through student partnerships like those led by the AP Spanish classes this year – by reducing paper use and printing , and by conserving energy through the installation of LED lighting . Our plans to purchase an electric bus for athletic team transportation will also assist in reducing some transportation-related impacts .
OUR LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Schools have a crucial role in educating citizens to embrace ecological literacy , develop a strong relationship with nature and prioritize sustainability in their decision-making . One of our objectives under the strategy of Purposeful Learning this year was to map the knowledge , skills and attitudes connected to ecological
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