Campus Voices
All School
As director of facilities at BB&N, I am pleased to tell you of a number of initiatives that BB&N has engaged in to move toward a greener campus environment schoolwide. I’m proud that the School has embraced these programs with such enthusiasm. In addition to enhancing the long-term sustainability of the School—as well as the planet it lives on—it is important for a school such as BB&N not only to teach students environmental responsibility, but also to model it.
What are some of these green initiatives? Let’s start with trash recycling. This past November, BB&N moved to a “single stream” model with its recycling operations. With single stream, which has been adopted by the City of Cambridge as well, basically every non-food recyclable item—bottles, cans, paper plates, plastic, aluminum foil, white and colored paper—can be deposited in the same bin. A local company, McGeoghean Waste, then picks up the big blue hoppers filled with these commingled materials and brings them to a Charlestown company, FCR, which separates, processes, and redistributes the materials to global customers for remanufacturing.
The shift to single stream allows us to produce significantly more recyclables than in years past. Moving to single stream typically increases the recycling volume by a rate of 25 percent. BB&N’s goal is to reach a recycling rate of at least 50 percent of schoolwide waste (we’ve been between 30-35 percent in recent years).
Students on all three campuses have embraced the School’s new approach to recycling. I’ve spoken with Jenny Weymouth’s Grade 4 class, in which the students have created posters to educate the Lower School and BB&N community about single stream recycling, and I’ve met with the Upper School Environmental Club as well.
We’re getting greener in other ways, too. For example, we have installed carbon-activated water dispensers, replacing vendor-supplied bottled water stations. This has dramatically reduced the use of plastic bottles and the energy expended in producing and delivering the product. Even better, the end result is water quality that’s equal to or better than what was there before.
Energy management is a high priority for the School. Working with organizations such as NStar and Prism Consulting, BB&N has audited its heating, cooling, lighting, and power usage, and is examining the feasibility to implement improvements and advances such as more efficient gymnasium lighting, ice rink insulation, and supplemental solar water heating and cogeneration at the Upper School.
Appropriately enough, field maintenance is another area that offers great “green” potential at BB&N. We’ve seen good results from the organic lawn and sports field treatment system we currently use, and we’re exploring a move to a 100 percent organic treatment. In addition, we are investigating the use of corn-based fuels for our mowers, which would allow us to obtain carbon credits.
Transportation is an aspect of operations where we’ve been working hard to make a green impact. In an effort keep cars off the road (and away from our already-clogged parking lots), the School subsidizes a T-pass program for its community members, runs a shuttle bus to the Harvard Square MBTA station, and provides bus service to and from the western suburbs.
Dining Services is contributing in several ways to support the Sustainability Program. Examples of their efforts include the change to reusable plates, cups, and flatware, recycling all cardboard boxes, harvesting of waste oil for reproduction, and reduction of can and plastic bottle products.
The Technology Department at BB&N participates by sending old computers to be recycled and properly discarded. Cell phones are donated for reuse and copy machine toner cartridges are returned to manufacturers for credits.
As you can see, we have made a lot of progress to date, but rest assured that BB&N will continue to create alliance partnerships with experts in the sustainability initiative to ensure that the School and the BB&N community stay at the forefront as a leader in environmentally responsible practices.
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