1. Recycling - Gunston's student-run Environmental Club meets 4 times a month, with 54 students from all grades (9-12). At the conclusion of 2 of these meetings, all members of the club go through the entire school collecting and emptying recycling bins. Gunston recycles waste paper, cans, plastic bottles, and cardboard. The Environmental Club maintains accurate and helpful signage for all containers. Pictured below: a club member takes out the recycling.
2. Composting - Gunston continues to address its solid waste production in the cafeteria through a composting program instituted in 2012. Lunch is served on washable plates and unbleached napkins are available. All Gunston students (205) participate at meal time. To improve the success rate in sorting compost from non-compostables, students created new signage and made announcements at all-school morning meeting to remind community members what can be composted. The composted material is transferred to a three-bin system by the facilities staff. In addition to cafeteria waste, the compost is used for plant material and grass clippings. Student pictured below accurately sorting food waste into the compost after lunch:
3. Reusable Water Bottles - Gunston's student culture encourages the use of reusable water bottles/Yeti cups. Students regularly carry water bottles or reusable cups such as Yeti Tumblers around campus. Students refill these cups and bottles with multiple eco-friendly water bottle filling stations around campus. These filling stations were installed in 2016 to reduce water consumption and help eliminate litter on campus from plastic water bottles. Pictured below: a senior with reusable cup and a water bottle filling station.
4. School Work Online - Every class at Gunston uses online resources on a daily basis. Most classes give students the option of submitting work electronically, reducing paper consumption and waste. This is an option favored by students for its ease and environmental impact. All students bring a laptop every day, and often choose to take notes, complete homework, and create presentations on these devices. All assignments are posted on Google Classroom, a branch of Google suite in attempt to reduce paper use. Pictured below: students complete work online.