Appleby College to support Oakville Sustainability Initiative’s early adopters program
In August, Appleby College joined Oakville Sustainability Initiative’s (OSI) early adopters program. “The decision for Appleby to join with this local initiative was a natural one,” says Catherine Raablaub, Assistant Headmaster, Advancement and Community Relations. “One of our objectives at Appleby is to equip students to be leaders in their communities. Given the increasing recognition that sustainability is an important consideration for governments, corporations and individuals, the inclusion of sustainability initiatives in our curriculum, corporate culture and student life is important.”
Appleby College is an independent, co-educational school in Oakville with an enrolment of 740 students in grades 7 to 12, many of whom live on campus. Appleby employs over 180 staff and faculty. The inclusion of educational institutions in the development of the community sustainability plan was important because it provides the opportunity to train the next generation of CEOs, technical experts, politicians and global citizens to integrate sustainability into their decision making.
To Appleby, this includes both social and environmental sustainability, a philosophy that is shared by other early adopters of the OSI initiative. “We expect our students to be ‘community spirited’, ‘globally inquisitive’ and ‘actively engaged’, says Guy McLean, Appleby’s Principal. “Our move towards sustainability will allow our students to explore and understand how their actions, decisions and lifestyles have local and broad reaching, global implications.”
“Appleby College has been thinking about and acting on issues related to environmental sustainability for several years,” says Bonnie Woolfenden, a science teacher who will be heading up Appleby’s sustainability planning initiatives. “We have had student-led recycling and waste reduction programs in place for quite a while.” All of the waste, plastic and paper recyclables are collected by a private contractor. These programs were expanded over the last year with the establishment of a student ECO club, overseen by Woolfenden, that led the charge to enhance Appleby's waste reduction efforts to include the collection and recycling of batteries, cell phones and toner cartridges as well as a pilot program to collect and compost organic waste in our student residences. “Overall, students and faculty have been very supportive and enthusiastic about these new initiatives and have been keen to continue to develop and support new environmental initiatives,” Woolfenden says. “Being one of the early adopters and working with the OSI will provide our students and staff with a framework, resources and the community support to expand our sustainable thinking to include the curriculum, facilities and infrastructure and culture.”
Appleby students and faculty will be involved in all aspects of the sustainability assessment and plan development for the school community and campus. This unique collaboration is an amazing opportunity for the students to learn from all aspects of the process and provides the college with access to the enthusiasm, ideas, and energy that their students possess.
