Environmental Club
The Upper School Environmental Club is a space for those looking to build upon D-E’s sustainability efforts. The club recently established the “Net Zero Initiative” in 2023 to help the school transition to carbon-neutral practices. Additionally, the club works in partnership with the US Garden Club to maintain and improve the compost system. Each year for Earth Week, the EVC plans a number of events to celebrate the Earth and to educate the community on climate change. The club takes “field trips” around campus to learn about how the compost system and the solar panels on Campus Center work to help the environment. The club is also responsible for updating the D-E Green page with sustainability-related school news.
US Garden Club
The Upper School Garden Club offers numerous opportunities for those looking to continue their learning from DIG and MS Garden Cub, as well as those looking to learn about organic gardening for the first time. The club is “invested in supporting, maintaining, and promoting the teaching gardens on campus and is interested in educating its members about sustainable farming and gardening practices, environmental preservation, soil stewardship, horticulture, and ecology. This is a hands-on club that spends time in the garden and compost arena and takes responsibility for helping to maintain those spaces. In addition, Garden Club has primary responsibility for maintaining the compost system and plays an important role in coordinating the parent Garden Project volunteers” (Taken from the activities website). Also, we cook using food from the Nettie Coit Garden!
Compost Initiative
The Compost Arena has been growing exponentially, going from two tumblers to ten in just six years, in addition to moving to a new location in 2023. Currently, the compost arena has enough room to process a majority of compostable food scraps from the kitchen and the plates of students and faculty. Running at full capacity, the system saves 1000 lbs of food waste per month from the landfill and provides a source of sustainable fertilizer for the school’s Garden. The system continues to run thanks to the efforts of many students, faculty, staff, and kitchen volunteers, organized through the Garden Club and with the collaboration of the Environmental Club. Most of these dedicated community members are in the photo to the left, which was taken in front of the compost arena.
MS Garden Club
The Middle School Garden Club complements the DIG elective, providing both students in the class as well as others who may not be able to fit it into their schedules with additional time to work in the school Garden and Greenhouse. The efforts of this club are critical ensuring that there is a substantial harvest in the fall. Alongside the Upper School Garden Club, this club helps maintain these spaces, in particular preparing them for use by other Middle School students.
Pollution Stoppers
The Pollution Stoppers are a brand new group of environmentally conscious 5th graders with a bold vision. Beyond simply stopping pollution at the school, these students seek to improve our sustainability more generally. Currently, the focus is on creating a compost system for the lower school, but the group does not limit its goals to educating those of a similar age. The Pollution Stoppers have already addressed the Upper School regarding the benefits of compost, and their long-term goals include becoming “the world’s biggest activist group.” This effort is entirely student-driven.
Sustainability Efforts and Awareness – Student Government
The SEA (Sustainability Efforts and Awareness) Initiative on Student Government works to promote various sustainability efforts and strives to increase awareness regarding issues of sustainability. While the initiative concentrates primarily on environment protection as a trans-regional issue, there is also a sub-initiative that works with the maintenance staff to better connect them to the community, ensuring they address sustainability in their work. One current focus is to host activities that include the different divisions in hopes of promoting environmental awareness on a wider scale, and from a younger age. A bigger project planned for next year is to have a group of upper-schoolers accompany a small class of Lower School students to help clean the Boat Basin park in Englewood Cliffs. The events hosted by this initiative are all planned in hopes of connecting students to their fellow classmates and local communities.
