Green Mash

WA Decreases Greenhouse Gas Emissions 12%

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012
by mikecarroll

Worcester Academy’s Strategic Plan commitments include “the execution of a carbon neutrality plan that will result in reducing the Academy’s carbon footprint by 30% within 5 years.”

As part of the school’s neutrality plan the office of sustainability with support from the maintenance, athletic, and business offices recently completed the Worcester Academy 2006-2011 Greenhouse Gas Inventory Working Report . The report compiled six years worth of relevant data, which was then entered into the Clean-Air Cool Planet (CA-CP) campus emissions calculator. The CA-CP calculator is used by over 500 schools across North America, follows the methodologies of the GHG Protocol Initiative, and accounts for the greenhouse gases specified in the Kyoto Protocol (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride).

In the 2010-2011 fiscal year, W.A. emitted an estimated 2,115 metric tons of equivalent CO₂ from emission sources owned or controlled by the school (heating fuels, vehicle use, refrigerants), generated by purchased electricity, and indirectly by municipal solid waste, wastewater, and paper production.

2011 emissions were reduced from the 2006 baseline year by 12%. Reductions were achieved nearly equally as a result of campus electricity efficiency programs and decreased carbon intensity of the New England electricity utility grid.

Analyzing the total school emissions and related resource use production and consumption by student in 2011 provides context for our connectivity on local-global socio-ecological scales.  Per student, WA produces or consumes 3.25 metric tonnes of eCO₂, 364.2 lbs of municipal solid waste, 6,050 gallons of wastewater, 8.3 million btus from direct electricity use, 34.8 million btus of final energy heating fuel, 23 pounds of paper, and 17,350 gallons of municipal potable water.

The inventory did not account for so called Scope 3 source emissions from travel activities, which were estimated to increase 2011 net emissions by 7% (employee and athletics travel) or 55% (for all related emissions including student travel).

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WA’s Local-Global Linkages Via Coffee

Tuesday, November 29th, 2011
by mikecarroll

WA has taken another step forward in exploring its community role at the local and global level. This time, the step pertains to one of the most highly traded global commodities, coffee.

Worcester Academy worked with SAGE dining services to begin purchasing organic, fair trade coffee roasted and supplied locally by employee owned Equal Exchange, located in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Equal Exchange sources their coffee beans directly from and develops mutually beneficial partnerships with community based and cooperative participating coffee farmers from across the globe. WA strives in this commitment to demonstrate how empowering the local and global community can be one in the same.

Coffee selections in Adams Hall will be rotating over time, open to feedback from the community, while the current blend is made from beans grown by farmers from  Chiapas and Oaxaca, Mexico.

WA is also better positioned to explore the educational potential of examining and understanding how local actions and relationships connect in evolving ways through time to global dynamics at the community and environmental level. Such connections include community development, diverse cultures and heritages, farming, land use impacts, biodiversity, international trade, production and consumptions cycles, and more.

Stay tuned for an updated live report link as Equal Exchange travel to Mexico in the near future.

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