"Green" Initiatives
If Miss Chloe Thompson, GPS’s first English teacher in 1906, were alive today, she might – rather than selecting black and blue as the school colors – elect instead some shade of green. Green is the color of choice for most programs that promote environmentally responsible living, and GPS too believes in being part of a sustainable society.
In the past several years, says Headmaster Randy Tucker, GPS has been “a model of attitude and decision-making in regards to being a good steward of the earth’s resources.” The Mission of the school includes “the willingness to create a more sustainable, honorable, and compassionate society locally and globally” as a value that each student should possess.
Ideas for making GPS a forward-thinking school in regards to the environment continue to be explored and established on a campus that has always valued the old “Three R’s” of reading, writing, and arithmetic that the three founders taught. The school now also, however, values the new “Three R’s”: reduce, reuse, and recycle.
The following sections detail the continuing results of a major environmental initiative begun in 2008:
- Bowman Terrace, the beautifully planted “green” roof outside the Student Center is a patio on which students study, snack, and admire the panoramic view of Chattanooga. The plants on the 2,300 foot surface help reduce storm water runoff, while the environmentally friendly surface reduces energy costs at the same time.
- A well dug in 2008 and located on the lower field taps into an aquifer of crystal clear water which is pumped up to the main campus and used for the sprinkling system, returning important minerals and nutrients to the grass and reducing the amount of fertilizer needed. The costs of the well, piping, pump house, and electrical transformer should be paid for in 2011-12 with the elimination of $15-19,000 in current water usage.
- Other energy saving measures include the installation of a white roof on the library, which not only reduces cooling costs, but also reduces our environmental heat signature by reflecting heat rather than absorbing it.
- Use of locally grown products or items from local sources: Sequatchie Cove beef, Niedlov bread, Chattz coffee.
- Scraps from trimming fruits and vegetables (averaging 20-30 gallons!) are collected and picked up by Niedlov’s Bakery, which composts our kitchen scraps and sells the compost to the City of Chattanooga for their tree planting program.
- The kitchen recycles steel cans, plastic containers, glass and cardboard. Orange Grove picks the material up for their recycling center.
- The dining room offers plastic tumblers for drinks instead of the 1,000 plastic cups that were used daily.
- Installation of a high-efficiency dishwashing machine.
- Elimination of cafeteria trays in 2009 saves 200 gallons of water per day. Each dishwasher load of eight trays previously used four gallons of water.
- Before all these changes were put in place, the GPS cafeteria generated TWENTY 55-gallon bags of garbage every day. Now, because we use real cups, compost our food scraps and recycle food containers, the garbage load is reduced to 3-4 bags per day. And that’s after feeding over 700 people!
- In order to be better stewards of our environment, GPS decided in 2008 to publish the school’s Annual Report online and in the process reduce consumer waste. To emphasize the importance of sustainability, other publications are printed on chlorine-free, recycled paper.
- Earth-friendly Green cleaners are used throughout the school by a cleaning crew trained to the Green Seal GS-42 standard.
- Today, 99.98% of the bulbs in the school are either compact fluorescent or eco-friendly. New overhead lighting in the gymnasium, for example, uses one third of the light output (energy use) of the older models.
- Among the items now recycled are dry cell and car batteries, old carpets, old light bulbs, ballasts, and old motor oil.
- Low-flow shower heads and motion-sensor sinks have been installed in most locker rooms and restrooms. Several restrooms also have hand dryers to cut down on paper waste.
- Paper towels and toilet paper are made of recycled materials.
- Hand soap and carpet cleaning service are certified green. Replacement carpets are made from recycled material. Every square yard of recycled carpet keeps about 40 two-liter plastic soda bottles from going to the landfill.
- Most classrooms in the Davenport building now have motion sensitive light switches. Lights are on only when someone is actually in the room.
- A Staefa computer-controlled system is used to monitor and control the temperature settings so that less energy is used when the buildings are not occupied.
- Recycling is part of everyday life at GPS. Collection bins are in each office and classroom as well as at strategic places on campus and at special events. Every Tuesday, advisory groups are responsible for moving recycled material from the classrooms and offices to bins that are then collected for recycling by a supportive maintenance staff.
- Students who volunteer for GPSOrganics, GPS’ online food store available to the GPS community, manage the site, compile orders, create packing slips and help fill bags on Thursday afternoons for after school pick up by many customers. The students began the unique organic online food store by researching facts about the benefits of organic food versus produce grown with chemical fertilizers.
