环境可持续性

点击下面的照片，阅读关于宾夕法尼亚大学特许环境管理和可持续发展的证书课程.

环境伦理课程是由宗教研究和哲学系开设的选修课. 学生在课程结束时，会有一个设计思维项目，其中包含他们选择的可持续性问题. 学生 explore how values and creative solutions can be brought together. 学生作业的例子包括:

个人电脑的能源使用和碳足迹: Ethan C. 探索我们的学校社区如何面对我们的能源使用和一些未知的方式，我们的设施管理供暖, 冷却, 还有用电量. 建筑占近 40%的二氧化碳排放量 在美国. Penn Charter承诺在未来实现100%的可再生能源信用.

清洁生活App:安妮·W. developed an idea for a phone app that combines game theory, geo-mapping technology for responsible waste disposal, and a news fead to encourage positive behavioral changes around limiting waste. 

一年级与绿色俱乐部合作

First graders already know a lot about recycling. 他们是一个收集可回收材料的班级，这些可回收材料在低年级的大厅和食堂里有漂亮的标记，比如废弃的牙刷, 马克笔和果汁袋.

The 上学校 Green Club also knows a lot about recycling. Recently, the club visited the offices of TerraCycle, in Trenton, N.J., a company that upcycles, or repurposes, the materials that the first graders collect. 在他们来访之前, 一年级的老师们给了绿色俱乐部一张小学生们提出的迫切问题的清单. TerraCycle是什么样子的? 他们都做些什么? 他们的桌子凌乱吗? The Green Club brought answers back to first grade.

绿色俱乐部成员泰特·米勒, 西尔维亚·米勒和帕梅拉·冈萨雷斯展示了照片，并帮助回答了一年级学生的问题. TerraCycle公司的办公室里并没有什么新鲜的东西:桌子都是用门做成的(还有好用的门铃，很容易引起别人的注意!), couch cushions used to be mail carriers' mailbags, the flooring is a school's discarded athletic turf, Adirondack chairs were made from melted-down toothbrushes and juice pouches. TerraCycle制造和销售袋子, 衣服, 笔记本电脑, 鞋子, 铅笔的情况下, 连喷壶都是用烟头做的. As for the workers' desks, some are neat, some are messy, just like in first grade.

丽莎•特纳, an 上学校 teacher and friend of the Green Club, explained to the students that plastic comes from petroleum, 哪个来自地面. “看起来很有破坏性，不是吗?她问. 学生 agreed that it's far better to recycle plastic than make new.

The Green Club has participated in the Green Cup Recycle Challenge, a four-week competition designed to improve recycling compliance rates in schools. In 2013, PC earned the Recycling Heroes designation, the highest rank. Club members surveyed recycling and trash bins, 计算“正确率”——即垃圾桶里没有垃圾，垃圾桶里也没有可回收物品——并将这些数据提交到竞赛数据库. 他们给一年级学生提供了一个最新情况:宾夕法尼亚大学特许学校(Penn Charter)一开始表现强劲，但后来有所倒退.

But first graders are doing their part; they work to educate the community about their upcycling project by stationing themselves near the Dining Hall waste area to remind older students that snack bags and juice pouches (as well as writing instruments, 纸尿裤包装和从家里带来的口腔护理产品)应该放在特别标记的垃圾箱里，而不是在垃圾填埋场.

更新文章首次发表于11月11日. 24, 2014.

Since the completion of a facilities energy audit in 2014, Penn Charter has improved energy efficiency whenever possible: motion-sensor lights in most classes; new, efficient lighting in all gyms; and further reductions in our use of the steam boilers. Penn Charter has also signed onto 100% Renewable Energy starting July 1, 2018. 我们正在参与PA的替代合规支付计划，其中我们正在购买可再生能源信用额(推荐，为太阳能、风能、地热和其他形式的低碳可再生能源提供资金.

凯特琳·诺顿，餐饮服务总监，当地食物，堆肥和回收

Tell us about the locally sourced food you serve and why that matters.

CulinArt从宾夕法尼亚州和新泽西州的10多个当地农场采购新鲜农产品和产品. 这很重要，因为这使我们能够为您的孩子提供最新鲜的产品，同时减少我们的碳足迹，支持我们的当地经济. 我们的农场包括:韦弗果园, 草地景观农场, Dusty Lane农场, 地球母亲的有机物, 埃默里克纯枫产品公司, 佩奎河谷农场, 桑迪岭农场, 科克的火鸡农场和蓟溪农场. We even utilize Penn Charter-grown produce when available. 我们从两家提供当地食物的公司购买:共同市场和像当地人一样的小吃-这两家公司都位于费城.

堆肥是如何工作的?

CulinArt composts all of the food waste from kitchen production, and students and faculty compost all of the food waste from their meals. The food waste is collected in bins located in the kitchen and dining hall. 每天，这些箱子都被Culin艺术的工作人员倒进更大的箱子里，存放在外面(有动物/害虫防盖). Once a week these bins are emptied by our compost company, 有机转换, 它位于新泽西州. 有机转换 turns our food waste into usable compost. 去年9月，我们是3岁.32 tons of food waste composted (which is amazing) and that was only from the kitchen. 今年，随着食堂堆肥的实施，这个数字应该会翻一番. 也, 每天早上，(科学老师)蒂姆·林奇(Tim Lynch)都会去厨房拿蔬菜和水果残渣喂他的两只乌龟——它们最喜欢的是草莓.

Has the single-stream recycling been a game changer? How good are we at not throwing recyclable materials in the trash? 我们能做些什么来改善?

Although overall recycling participation has improved, we still find plastic bottles or plastic take-out containers in the trash. 有帮助的事情是同行对回收的支持(在PC这里有很多), 尤其是在年龄较小的学生中), 全面放慢速度，注意确保垃圾进入正确的垃圾箱, and making better choices for your environment – for example, if you are eating in the dining hall you do not need a plastic to-go container, 选择可重复使用的盘子, 可重复使用的杯子, 还有金属餐具.

一级Terracycle倡议是否支持餐厅的可持续发展努力?

Yes, Terracycle directly supports CulinArt's sustainability efforts. 它大大减少了垃圾的数量，并激发了年幼的孩子对环境管理的兴趣.

如果你能在餐厅里提出任何不切实际的提议或倡议来支持我们的可持续发展努力, 会是什么呢?

我的希望是校园园艺增加，CulinArt将能够在可用的几个月里利用大部分PC种植的产品. 向学生们展示如何准备和享用他们自己亲手种植的东西将是一件很棒的事情.

瓶装水的故事

3月22日上映, 2010, (世界水日), 这段视频讲述了人造需求的故事——这个行业如何诱使美国人每周购买超过5亿瓶水，而水已经从水龙头流出了.

宾大特许学校在食堂设有水站，在高年级学校设有瓶子加注站(如右图), which make it easy to fill 可重复使用的杯子s and water bottles and avoid the disposables. Send your children in with a reusable bottle to save money and the planet!