Greenlove Foundation celebrates St. Michael's Country Day School environmental's successes

GREENLOVE FOUNDATION CELEBRATES ST. MICHAEL’S COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL ENVIRONMENTAL’S SUCCESSES WITH A WATER BOTTLE FILLING STATION DONATION

On October 2, 2017, members from the Greenlove Foundation will
participate in St. Michael’s Country Day School assembly to celebrate
the school’s environmental efforts and successes during the past three
years. As a result of the school’s environmental accomplishment,
Greenlove has donated a water bottle filling station to SMCDS which
will be officially unveiled on Monday.
John Zurn, headmaster of St. Michael’s, in his application for a
Greenlove water station, outlined three environmental projects that
the students were involved with during the past three years:
1. During 2014-2015, the third graders determined that the State of
Rhode Island did not have a state insect. They identified that the
American Burying Beetle used to range across the East Coast but today
it is endangered with the principal colony dwelling on Block Island.
Throughout that school year, the third graders researched the beetles,
spoke to scientists and eventually proposed to the State Senate that
this particular beetle becoming the state insect. In the summer of
2015, the American Burying Beetle became the official state insect of
Rhode Island due to the hard work of the third graders.
2. In the 2015-2016 school year, St. Michael’s received a state grant of
$50,000 for solar panels that were placed on the school’s Hill House
Gymnasium and Theater Center. The solar panels decrease the reliance
on community energy resources and reflects the school’s continuing
interest in minimizing its environmental footprint on our island
community.

3. The Middle School students in the academic year of 2016-2017,
studied the marine environment and determined that the significant
amount of non-degradable litter found on beaches was plastics. A large
amount of this litter were plastic bags distributed by area retailers. The
students joined a campaign to ban plastic bags throughout Aquidneck
Island. In the spring of 2017, Middletown and Newport councils
approved the details of a ban on commercial plastic bags in these two
towns thanks in part to these students. The commercial plastic bag ban
begins on Nov. 1, 2017.
The assembly will celebrate these accomplishments and will also kick
off the school’s mission of selecting a yearly environmental project. A
special “environmental hall of fame” wall is currently in development at
the school in recognition of their environmental stewardship.
The Greenlove Foundation recognizes the great effort that the students
and faculty of St. Michael’s have done over the past three years to
make Aquidneck Island an environmentally cleaner place to enjoy the
natural beauty that surrounds us.

The Greenlove Foundation was established in loving memory of Kendra
L. Bowers, also a graduate of St. Michael’s Country Day Class of 2008.

For more information on Greenlove, visit
www.greenlovefoundation.org.