Sustainability

Waring School embraces environmental sustainability as a natural extension of the school’s mission to create and sustain a community of lifelong learners dedicated to the individual and common good. As stewards of the environment, we affirm our commitment to current and future generations by engaging the school community in this important principal through education programs and school operations. Our goal is to be a model for how a school engages the community on environmental sustainability.

LEADERS IN GREEN EDUCATION

Three-Pillar Strategy

Waring brings sustainability into school pedagogy though curriculum, the student Sustainability Initiative, and other venues.

Curriculum

Coursework
Electives
Endterm
Culture

Sustainable Operations

Passive House Energy/Carbon reductions
Reduced Waste
Water Conservation
Sustainable Purchasing

Communications

Transparency
Annual Reporting
Community Engagement
Communicate Achievements

CURRICULUM

Core Science

An entire unit is dedicated to energy and energy sources. Students examine energy data and perform an energy audit.

Group 1 Science

Students study earth science which focuses on human influence on the geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere.

Group 2 Science

Sustainability topics are discussed often during biology. Some of the topics significantly addressed are: invasive species, ozone hole depletion, ecological servicing, bio-accumulation of toxins and pesticides in food webs, tragedy of the “commons”, human beings as an organism, population rise, carrying capacity, carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, water cycle, global warming, evolution, mass extinctions, and cancer.

Group 5 Ecology, Oceans, and Environment

In the one semester course of Oceans and Climate, students study the effects of global warming and climate change on the oceans and in the other ecology. Each senior also develops a research project addressing the challenges that are faced on environmental issues in the Gulf of Maine.

Group 5 Chemistry

Environmental and sustainability issues are studied and incorporated into many components of Group 5’s chemistry class. The laboratory focuses on green chemistry methods and learning about the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry.

Humanities

Classes include discussions about population, place, and politics in different parts of the world. These discussions naturally incorporate environmental issues and sustainability.

SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVE

The Waring School Sustainability Initiative is a collection of students from varying grades whose common goal and efforts are focused on the betterment of the Waring environment by:

promoting sustainable and eco-friendly practices
educating the school community during All-School Meetings
meeting with internal and external key players in Waring’s campus maintenance and green practices
managing composting and signage for recycling, trash, and terracycle.
teaching a Core health class on environmental issues and smart choices.
participating in Waring’s Sustainability Subcommittee to the Buildings and Grounds Committee of the Board of Trustees

PASSIVE HOUSE CERTIFIED

Waring has long championed environmental sustainability as part of its underlying philosophy and pedagogy. Lesson plans about sustainability are deeply embedded in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) curriculum, and a small group of the school’s approximately 150 students take part in the Waring School Sustainability Initiative, which promotes eco-friendly practices like reducing operational carbon emissions, managing the school’s compost and waste programs, and educating the Waring community about current and potential policies to make the school more sustainable. As just one example, they recently retrofitted all the lighting on campus to LED bulbs.

As a result of their focus on sustainable operations, the Waring community decided that the new School would need to be Passive House certified and raised an astounding $5 million from the community to finance the project. Once certified by the Passive House Institute, the new School will be the first academic building in the state of Massachusetts to be recognized for this level of performance.

Keep Reading

Sustainable Operation

Energy

Examining the energy use and carbon footprint of our buildings, we see that two school buildings – the House and the Forum, represent 50% of our energy consumption and 72% of our greenhouse gas emissions.

In response, Waring is currently completing analysis of energy usage in the School, the House and the Forum buildings, and the Waring Sustainability Committee is developing recommendations for improvements.

Further, Waring completed a major campus-wide endeavor to retrofit nearly all lighting to LED lights, reducing greenhouse gases 14 metric tons annually – the equivalent of taking three passenger cars off the road. The project saves the school $7,000 annually.

Recycling & Compost

Waring has had composting programs since the school’s founding in 1972 and today, students run the composting program. Over the years, Waring has continued to fine tune and expand its recycling program.

In 2015, Waring committed to eliminate single use plastics and water bottles, making all on-campus events zero waste. Driven by a team of committed parents, students, and staff, these events are run using reusable, recyclable, or compostable cutlery, cups, and other food service items.

These zero waste events are an important part of Waring’s strategy to divert 90% of its waste from landfill/incineration to recycling and composting.