Sustainability Week 2022

Solebury School and the student-run Solebury Environmental Action Corps (SEAC) aim to make sustainability an integral part of the Solebury experience by assuring that all sustainability initiatives are a coordinated effort. 为了支持这一努力,SEAC于4月4日至8日举办了可持续发展周.

The goal of sustainability week this year was to introduce solutions to climate issues to the Solebury community. 因为很容易陷入气候无效, we brought in speakers who are currently working on solutions such as bioplastics and organic no-till agriculture. It was also important that we get the entire community engaged in making our campus more sustainable. This is why we planned the community event where students and staff could be involved in many different workshops. Leel Dias ’23


Monday

Matt Wattson P’23 ’25 is a professor at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand where he is currently focused on the decarbonization of heavy industry. He joined our honors chemistry class to discuss the research he leads to replace the use of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, 天然气与可再生能源在重工业中发电. 他特别谈到了钢铁和水泥制造业, 它们各自造成了全球约8%的人为二氧化碳排放. 马特通过使用可再生能源发电分享了这一点, 就有可能显著减少与钢铁和水泥相关的二氧化碳排放. 
 

Tuesday

Alida Monaco毕业于哈佛大学,获得学士学位.A. 主修环境科学、经济学和公共政策,辅修天体物理学. She currently works as a Climate Change Researcher with global consulting and technology services company, ICF International. 在ICF,她致力于为公共和私营部门客户减少温室气体排放. 她讨论了她之前在哈佛可持续发展办公室工作的经历, the World Bank, the United Nations, 和世界资源研究所. 她还分享了她帮助在哈佛校园安装的雨水花园的信息, 这是索莱伯里大学学生们目前正在进行的一个项目. 

Our biology class was pleased to welcome back organic vegetable farmer Mike Tholis for Sustainability Week. Mike discussed the differences between no-till and till farming and gathered soil samples from both types of gardens on campus. During the presentation, 他加水模拟侵蚀, 让学生们分享他们的观察, 并讨论了免耕农业的优点. 
 

Wednesday

卡尼·沃伦是一位作家、倡导者和活动家. She spoke to the Solebury Environmental Action Corps (SEAC) club about environmental justice and reviewed the 17 principles of environmental justice. A particular issue she focused on during the presentation was trash incineration and the effects it has on the Chester, PA community. 她讨论了为什么会有问题, noting that it’s more expensive than a landfill and the toxic air emissions created are worse than coal. 科尔尼敦促学生们了解自己的垃圾去了哪里, 分享大多数人都不知道的东西,这只会让问题更加严重. 

Samantha Rothman P’24 joined our honors environmental science class to discuss environmental stewardship and land management practices. 她分享了她家族悠久的农业历史和她成为农民的道路. 萨曼莎还谈到了农业机械化, 解释了它是如何使耕地所需的人力减少的. 在演讲的最后,她分享了她是如何创办这个非营利组织的, Grow it Green, 教育市民健康饮食及环境管理. 

Sustainable Shane is an Environmental Influencer who grew up in San Diego where his love for everything sustainable started at a very young age. His passion and purpose to protect our planet have him involved in everything from beach cleanups to volunteering at local environmental organizations to just planting his own garden. 

During assembly, the SEAC club gave a presentation on rainwater management on Solebury’s campus. They discussed some solutions to improve the overall health of our environment and reduce the likelihood of being negatively impacted by flooding in the future. 解决方案包括将一些修剪过的区域改造成草甸, installing rain gardens, 并沿着樱草花溪种植河岸缓冲带. After the presentation, the houses competed in a game of Jeopardy to test what they learned during the presentation. 下载索莱伯里校园雨水管理简报.

Friday

Dr. Frank D. Marks is a Meteorologist with the Hurricane Research Division at the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorology Laboratories for NOAA. He talked about what it’s like to fly into hurricanes, sharing that he’s flown into over 70 of them. He discussed and showed images of the different types of planes that fly into hurricanes and how the data collected from those flights are used to make predictions. He encouraged students to look into the various opportunities available with NOAA if they have any interest in this subject.

Josh DeVincenzo is a Senior Instructional Designer and Project Coordinator at Columbia University’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness. 他参加了我们的西班牙语课,讨论气候变化和防灾. Josh talked about his focus on developing learning experiences associated with training projects that navigate disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and resilience. He also shared his hopes to create accessible and quality educational programming that benefits the common good at scale, 特别是围绕气候变化的主题. 他以一个活动结束了演讲, 让学生决定如何应对不同类型的灾难. 
 

Tuesday 

由于天气原因,我们重新安排了行程, Sustainability Week came to a close with various workshops to help make our campus more sustainable. 学生们有机会从种植河岸缓冲区等活动中进行选择, planting a rain garden, live staking, learning about composting, constructing beehives, and more!