Brookwood School

Last Wednesday Harvard University held it’s first Sustainability Celebration. Three days later, the Brookwood School in Manchester, Massachusetts held a similar event. And while Boston-area media outlets have waxed on about green being the new crimson in Harvard Yard, I’m here to tell you that the Brookwood community has been wearing green for decades … and they did these colors proud on Saturday at their second annual Sustainability Fair.

In all, I spent three days in the Brookwood community. On Thursday and Friday, I visited with eighth graders during their science classes, where we talked about TRACKING TRASH, science projects, science teachers, and protecting our oceans. I also addressed the entire student body during their weekly School Meeting, visited with a PreK class, answered questions for curious second graders, lunched with students and faculty, and sat in on a class of soon-to-be science teachers working with their Brookwood mentor. It was an incredible two days during which I gathered as much as I shared!

On Saturday I took part in the school’s Sustainability Fair. Students, faculty, and parents came together to share with their community tools and ideas for sustaining our world. From a coat drive to a Croc drive, from safe household cleaners to sustainable tea, from composting to coastwatching, the Brookwood community taught me a whole lot about going green. Check out these highlights:

Did you know that if your VCR is plugged into the wall socket, it draws a large amount of energy even when powered off? A super-smart Brookwood student told me all about it, and proved his point with this plugged-in-but-turned-off VCR connected to an energy register. According to Laurenzo, Americans could cut home energy consumption by 75% simply by unplugging unused electronic appliances; talk about a no-brainer.

A group of eighth-graders organized a “No Idling” campaign at Brookwood. Their mission is to educate parents about the evils of idling their engines and to convince drivers in the community to turn off their cars while waiting in the pick-up line. “A single vehicle dropping off and picking up kids at one school puts three pounds of pollution into the air per month.” Ouch.

I tried some of this Sustainabili-Tea and it was de-lish. The students who sold it shared their tea-brewing secrets with me: sun-power!

Got Crocs? It seems to me that most people do … these plastic shoes are everywhere. But what I didn’t know was that Crocs can be recycled. Soles Unlimited is an organization committed to taking old Crocs and turning them into new shoes for people who need them. If your looking for a green project of your own, consider a Croc Drive; the Greenwood folks had boxes and boxes by the end of the afternoon.

Folks from Salem Sound Coastwatch used this tabletop visual to show fair-goers how pollution moves through a watershed. There is nothing like a dribbling of cocoa powder (factory pollutants) and green jello (lawn chemicals) to make it clear why we need to be vigilant near our waterways.

For educating yourself and your family about sustainability issues, fair participants introduced me to the Eco-Bunnies and to Annie Leonard and her Story of Stuff. (If you only follow one link in this post, please make it this last one. It is truly a must-see.)

Many thanks to librarian Sheila Geraty, science teacher Rich Lehrer, Sustainability Fair organizers Ben Wildrick and Amy Henderson, and all the students at Brookwood School. It was truly a pleasure getting to know you … and learning from your bright green school community!