How Springside Chestnut Hill is Leading the Way in School Sustainability

Recently, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy (SCH) became the first school in the state to have a Certified Green Restaurant cafeteria. The schools cafeterias are certified as 2 Star Certified Green Restaurants by the Green Restaurant Association, a national nonprofit which restaurants to become more environmentally sustainable.

The school also implements several other sustainability-based practices:

On Earth Day, SCH completed a school-wide waste audit. The school’s waste from its two campuses was collected over a 24-hour period. Student volunteers helped sort the waste to gain an understanding about the amount of waste generated by the school, as well as how they could recycle and compost more to reduce waste.

The Middle School Girls Eco Club at the school received a grant from Grinch (Green in Chestnut Hill) to install a water bottle refilling station in the cafeteria with the goals being to reduce reliance on single-use water bottles and cups in the cafeteria, raise awareness of the environmental impact of disposable containers (such as cups and single-use water bottles), and encourage the use of reusable water bottles.

In addition, Upper School student Rekha Dhillon-Richardson hosted a Girls Climate Summit this past spring to raise awareness about climate change, promote youth advocacy, and promote local change.

“SCH serves as a great environmental model for student foodservice across the country,” said Michael Oshman, CEO and Founder of the Green Restaurant Association in a press release.  “In education, leading by example is key, and Springside Chestnut Hill Academy is teaching important models of energy, water, and resource conservation through the environmental steps its foodservice has implemented.”

Image via Flicker User US Department of Agriculture