Our campus has become a recognized model for sustainable management of natural resources. Our practices in the forests and on the farm, as well as in our classrooms and community spaces, are exemplary—and award winning.
We put ideas about sustainable living and renewable technologies into practice, and many of our students have first-time, hands-on experiences that inform a lifetime of behavior. We believe that MCS is unique in the country, and perhaps the world, for providing such opportunities.
Here are just a few of the ways sustainable practices are part of every MCS student's daily life:
In addition to providing food, fuel, and fiber for the community, the work MCS students do on the farm contains valuable instruction in sustainable agriculture. Turning compost, milking cows, harvesting vegetables, and caring for our animals all help our community to reduce its waste and emit less carbon into the atmosphere.
During the 2006-2007 school year, MCS students built a new cabin under the supervision of our Lands & Buildings Manager, Don Lamson, and our Head Carpenter, Ken Wise. Designed to be as efficient as possible, Gordy Hall features large south-facing windows to allow in light and warmth during the winter, photovoltaic panels to provide electricity, light tubes in the roof for light during the day, and a seven-layer insulation system in the walls that includes recycled cotton fiber and cellulose. Nearly all of the lumber in the cabin comes from Maine and the inner walls are untreated by chemicals. Like all MCS cabins, Gordy Hall is heated by a wood stove in the winter.
"MCS is unique because it manages to engage students in a very intense social atmosphere, while building community ties, senses of self and place, and connecting students physically to their environment; all while also upholding a rigorous academic program. Academics are not at all sacrificed by the other focuses of the program. They are in fact enforced by every other component of MCS."
One of the first lessons MCS students learn upon arrival is the importance of recycling and how to take advantage of Chewonki’s waste management resources. We use single-stream recycling, which allows us to combine all paper, plastics, glass, and aluminum for sorting at an off-site facility. Students are responsible for separating out returnable cans and bottles, and the deposit money from these is put into our scholarship fund.
Photovoltaic, hydrogen, biomass, passive solar, hydro, pedal power, draft horse, solar heat, biodiesel. These are some of the renewable energy sources that Chewonki uses every day and which MCS students rely on for hot showers, electricity, warmth, and transportation. In 2007, MCS students conducted a carbon footprint inventory of campus, the results of which are being used to
inform an emissions reduction strategy for Chewonki in the future.
To read more about the climate inventory, click here.
Saltmarsh Farm
Renewable Energy