Page 5 - Priorities #42 2009-January

Solar panels
From one location on the hillside, one can see several examples of the ways in which the school is looking to make its operations more sustainable.
Above: Members of Mr. Clark’s AP Envi- ronmental Science classes and the Sustain- ability Team helped to create large brushpiles on the hillside above the main campus. These brushpiles provide habitat for bird and animal life, adding structural diversity to the grassland habitat. The concentrated activity around the brushpiles makes for reli- able opportunities to see song birds, raptors, snakes, and other small animals.
Left: (L-R) Arnaud Kpachavi (‘11), Kimberly Carlisle, and Emma Wrenn (‘11) are members oftheSustainabilityTeam. Heretheyhelp with the composting of school kitchen scraps and landscaping waste at the Sustainability Team’s new composting site. Composting
has helped the school to reduce the amount of trash that is sent to landfills, and cuts down on trash removal costs.
Above: Emma Wrenn isn’t grossed out by earthworms. Here she shows off one that was pulled from a worm-box, an- other kind of composting method. Mr. Clark notes that composting and ‘worm boxing’ are great ways for kids to learn about the important ecosystem service of decomposition.
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Compost
Wildlife Refuge
The Priory’s solar system will generate substan- tial environmental benefits by reducing emissions from power plants, and will offset CO2, the leading green house gas, NOx, which creates smog, SO2, which creates acid rain, and asthma promoting par- ticulates.
Science faculty member Hovey Clark said that many of the green projects on campus are small ideas but contribute to the larger environmental picture in a big way. “Really, all of these projects are interconnected and imitate the way an eco-system is sustainable,” said Mr. Clark. “Humans can imi- tate nature’s sustainability model by focusing on four areas: reliance on solar energy, maintenance of biodiversity, recycling of matter and nutrients, and population control.”
Mr. Clark said that eventually he would like to see the Priory generate a greater percentage of its
electricity through solar energy. The Sustainability Club, which was founded by Whitney Greswold ‘08, Erik Lyon ‘08, Angelo Ladeza ‘08, and Ashley Neckowitz, is working towards helping The Priory become more energy efficient and use less energy overall.
In addition to the new green Performing Arts buildings and solar installation, the Priory is also looking into becoming a waste-free school by reduc- ing the enormous quantity of garbage generated on campus, and by using green-friendly cleaning solu- tions and paper products.
*Chase Haegele is at UC Santa Cruz studying Environmental Studies and Mechanical Engineering and Mike Mellenthin is at Stanford in the Symbolic Systems Program studying Artificial Intelligence.
Left: Kimberly Carlisle (‘11), a member of the school’s Sustainability Team, is proud of the school’s enhanced efforts to reduce solid waste and increase the amount of recycled materials.