As a school and a community we have been carrying out many initiatives to achieve a more sustainable environment, and reduce our carbon footprint.     

The carbon footprint is what an individual or a community emit, in terms of carbon dioxide and other carbon compounds. Carbon dioxide has serious impacts on our atmosphere, that for now remain irreversible. Carbon dioxide and other gases act as a thermal blanket, absorbing heat and warming the surface of our planet.

As a school and individuals initiatives have been taken but what more can we do, or are already doing to create an environment that leaves less of a carbon footprint on our planet.

Many universities around the globe are taking up the task of cutting down their carbon emissions, which are split into three groups. These groups are commonly used to generate a sense of emissions on campus, and are used by many universities. The first is emissions that arise directly from the school. The second is emissions which are caused by the purchase of electricity or water, or other resources that the school use that down the line have an impact on our environment. The third group involves emissions that that are not directly impacted by the school but involve off-campus activities such as commuting, travel and what individuals use as a consequence of the school, such as the electricity you use to do your homework.

It has been found that the secondary emissions, those that involve the purchase of electricity water or other resources are always the highest on campuses everywhere. All the Ivy League universities and many more are investing into projects with goals to achieve a more and more sustainable environment on campus.

Compared to universities, high schools have many fewer websites with explicit initiatives on reducing their carbon footprint, according to an analysis by Dateline. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had a page on high school initiatives for sustainability, but the page is now down with “We have different priorities due to the new administration” written on the page.

The Trump administration has made a 31 percent cut to the EPA’s overall budget which is awful for progress on climate change. This may be linked to the page going down.

WIS has many initiatives for sustainability. In 2013-14 geothermal wells were built on campus, that currently heat and cool the mansion but are capable of doing much more. The way this works is a network of pipes go deep into the ground and during the summer the water is cooled by the temperature of the earth while during the winter it is warmed. Kimberly Bennett, WIS’ the Director of Marketing and Communications said that, “The power company that supplies the school is wind powered” assuring that all the electricity used at WIS is sustainable. Rain barrels were also put out a couple of years ago and styrofoam was removed on campus. All of these things are initiatives our school has taken to reduce our carbon footprint, and make an impact.

After discovering all these things WIS has done i turned to the students to ask them their view on this issue. A fellow 9th grader Liam Byrne says, “I do think it is important to reduce our carbon footprint as a school and i think all the things we have done so far have been some great initiatives”. I Also interviewed Gabriel Tafara in 9th grade and he responded, “The recycling is a great idea and our campus is very green”.

The school has had many initiatives for sustainability, and maybe more will come in the future.

By Tommaso Forni