Current Sustainability Initiatives
Measuring the RPCS Carbon Footprint: For the past two years, a 12th grade student has worked with Ms. Martha Barss, RPCS Sustainability Coordinator, to measure the carbon footprint using the Clean Air Cool Planet Carbon Calculator. This complex software has shown us how many different activities of an education institution contribute to our footprint. As we work to develop a baseline for our footprint, we also are working to reduce our footprint in numerous ways. At present the two biggest pieces of our carbon footprint pie are electricity use and commuting to and from school.
Green Challenge: RPCS entered a regional green challenge for the month of April 2010. During this month we worked as a community to reduce our use of electricity, to reduce the amount of trash we produced and to increase the amount of recycling on campus. The major initiatives we introduced in April were to turn off lights as much as possible, empty liquids from bottles and containers before putting them in the trash or recycling, and composting our biodegradable waste. Students and teachers from each division volunteered to serve on the Green Team for their division. These students made up skits, made announcements and did the weekly data collecting that was required for the Green Challenge. They also helped monitor the sorting of trash in the cafeteria to help people in the community learn where to put their trash – liquids, composting, recycling, or waste.
Managing Trash the RPCS way: In mid-April, 2010 RPCS began to recycle biodegradable waste with a local company called Waste Neutral. This is another way to manage our trash so that it doesn’t go to the landfill. When we compost with Waste Neutral, our waste is turned into compost. We use the compost on our school gardens. Composting requires everyone on campus to change their habits. When we throw something away we have to think about which bin it goes in. First we need to put all liquids down a sink drain. Then we have to decide whether it is biodegradable, recyclable or has to go to the landfill or incinerator. We have groups of four bins throughout the school with signs to help us decide. The tallest bin is for recyclables that go to Baltimore’s Single Stream Recycling Facility. Cans, plastic bottles and aluminum foil can go in this bin. Our second bin is for waste that cannot be recycled or composted. The third bin is for compost and we can put our food waste, soiled paper towels, compostable plates, cutlery and cups in this bin. Finally, we also recycle office paper with Abitibi, a company that pays us for collecting paper that is no longer needed from print outs, notebooks or magazines.
Student Climate and Conservation Congress (SC3): For the first time, RPCS sent three upper school students to the national SC3 conference in June 2010. While at the conference they heard many speakers, learned about leadership and developed action plans for our school. These students will be the leaders of the Students for Environmental Action in the upper school in the 2010-2011 academic year.
Gardens for Learning: RPCS has expanded its use of the entire campus for outdoor classrooms. In the lower school students in grades K through 3 now have small gardens that they plant and maintain during different times during the year. Many students in the lower school help in our herb garden. In the 5th and 6th grades, students work as Backwoods Stewards helping to plant trees, bushes and herbaceous plants to enhance and conserve the woodland. Fifth grade students and middle school students have an opportunity to join the Butterfly Club and help maintain, and plant our large butterfly garden which is full of native perennials that attract and feed important pollinator species such as butterflies and hummingbirds. Each garden is developed for a different purpose. Some are vegetable gardens and the food is harvested and eaten by the students who planted it whenever possible. The herbs are used for various arts and crafts projects as well as for enhancing recipes prepared by students. Finally, some gardens are flower gardens grown to beautify an area and to learn how plants grow.