Palmer Trinity School

bird's eye view Sustainability and Schools: Palmer Trinity School's Contribution By: Dr. Leopoldo Llinás, Director of Sustainability at PTS There is a sincere and growing interest among us in identifying and choosing schools where there is a demonstrated commitment to sustainability. But what exactly does this commitment entail? Why should it matter whether a school has practices in place that support green living? And how can we determine whether a school is committed to going green? In the United States alone, there are over 100,000 schools— each housing a campus of anywhere from one to dozens of buildings—that, until recently, were guaranteed to waste water, energy and other natural resources, release toxic chemicals and limit clean air exchange. It wasn't until 2002, when the United Nations (UN) established the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, that the damage these schools were causing to the environment became a government issue—and schools across the nation began to make a change. In 2007, Palmer Trinity School's Head of School, Sean Murphy, hired a Sustainability Coordinator, Dr. Leopoldo Llinás, to oversee a variety of projects and programs aimed at saving resources and reducing the school's environmental impact. The implications of going green have resulted in changes to the ways Palmer Trinity School maintains its campus, provides food services, constructs and operates buildings, disposes of waste, and most importantly, instructs its students. Aside from these changes, "green" initiatives have been rolled out in key areas—energy efficiency and renewable energy, waste disposal and recycling, capital projects, food services, transportation, academic programs, water conservation, and procurement—all to enhance the academic experience and quality of life of Palmer Trinity School students. Most notably, these students have participated in a number of ongoing projects to make their own contributions to the school's sustainability efforts, including: the Reclamation Project, Sustainability Pledge, Butterfly Garden, Fairchild Challenge, Photovoltaic System, and Carbon Footprint Reduction Students and teachers built special plant boxes to facilitate the growth of fresh vegetables on campus. 8 Dr. Llinás, Director of Sustainability at PTS, leads students on a trip to Key Biscayne to collect mangrove seedlings each year. Following the trip, the students bring the seedlings to campus and hang them in cups of water, on the hallway walls, to help the seedlings grow before returning them to Key Biscayne. Commitment. The recent addition of the Falcon's Nest SolarPowered Energy System will serve as another wonderful tool to track the school's energy and greenhouse gas emission savings, and ultimately, see how the school is reducing its carbon footprint. Due to the school's sustainability efforts, Palmer Trinity School students have gone beyond the confines of a typical high school education to learn, hands on, about the significance of the world around them—and most importantly, what they can do to help. As a result, these students are not only helping save the environment, but they are also paving the way for a better quality of life, and education, for future generations of students.

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