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Sustainability
The “Green” Vale School.
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)