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Sustainability

The “Green” Vale School.

Sustainability

Green Vale takes seriously a self-imposed commitment to promoting sustainability in the world and within the School community. This is achieved through 1) educational programs built into our academic curriculum; 2) behavioral and structural programs deployed throughout our campus, and 3) supporting our own and others’ special events. A passionate collective of faculty members and student leaders stewards, polices, and celebrates large initiatives and small gestures, wherever undertaken.

Educational Programs

  • Earth Day (all-school, full-day curriculum of hands-on environmental learning and service)
  • Student Sustainability Club
  • Nature-based field trips
  • Campus tree-tagging initiative (counting, identifying species and labeling)
  • Milkweed planting to attract butterflies for Pre-K chrysalis study
  • Effort to quantify Green Vale’s carbon footprint
  • Meatless Monday lunch

Behavioral & Structural Initiatives

  • The entire campus was converted from fuel oil to natural gas heating
  • Project Turn Out the Lights (if leaving a room for 10+ minutes)
  • New energy efficient windows in Lower School building
  • 5th Grade “Recycling Rangers”
  • Restoring the campus apple orchard to historic abundance and vitality
  • All community members expected to pick up litter whenever possible
  • Unplug chargers, shut down computers
  • Implementing a virtual server infrastructure, reducing the number of servers on campus from 12 to 4.
  • Interior lighting has all transitioned to compact fluorescent bulbs or high-efficiency fluorescent tubes. Program to convert all bulbs to LED’s is underway.
  • Cardboard-only recycling dumpster
  • Selection of a carting contractor that sorts and recycles all trash
  • Most of the campus is controlled by an automated Building Management System (BMS)

Supporting Wider Events

  • Earth Hour participation