By Matthew Sun ’24, Connor Ennis ’24, and Sanju Patel ’23

On Sunday, October 31, 2021, Upper school Sustainability members Sanju Patel, Connor Ennis, CJ Nwafor, Matthew Sun, Siri Oehler, Holly Wilcox, and Nikolas Larson participated in a dumpster dive chaperoned by Ms. Bessias. Leading up to this, we had previously met with Mr. Benson, the Director of Business Services at DA, and discussed our desire to partner with Green-to-go to save money, reduce waste, and reduce emissions. To follow up on this meeting, and to determine if Green-to-go is a feasible option, the sustainability committee organized this effort to analyze the contents of our school’s waste. 

During the afternoon of Halloween, members of the dumpster dive team met in the parking lot by Kenan Auditorium. We emptied the dumpster and pulled trash out of plastic bags, sorting items into compost, recycling, TerraCycle, and trash.

The rest could be recycled or composted, and there was some TerraCycle material, too. There were a lot of paper towels, toilet paper rolls, food truck lunch waste, pizza boxes, etc., all of which can be composted. We’re working to raise awareness of the pizza box issue, and we have met with Mr. Smith, the Director of Facilities, to make a plan for composting paper towels in the restrooms. 

Compost bins will be placed in the STEM bathrooms after Winter Break, so make sure to look for signs about what to put in them. We are following a plan that the Middle School created at the beginning of this year, and we are so excited!

Another major trash source was just clearly not trash. Who is throwing out computer cases? Gatorade bottles? Come on folks, you are smarter than that! We hope that you consider what you throw out, because you never know who might be watching 🙂

Frankie Stover & Ash Granda-Bondurant

“Ever since the seminar, I have paid close attention to how many trees houses have. For example, I was driving through a rural area that I was not familiar with, and I particularly noticed houses that had trees planted in the front, which made me realize how houses with trees just seemed more alive. This interpretation also told me a bit about the history of the house and maybe some of the challenges it may face. Overall, the value of trees in urban areas has increased in my mind.”

-Sanju Patel ‘23

A partnership between the Sustainability Committee and R.A.I.S.E  (Raising Awareness for Inclusion and Social Equity) leaders here at Durham Academy resulted in the successful 2021 Fall Seminar: Trees in the forest, City, and Campus. Twenty-one students across five different grade levels attended this event on Friday, November 5th. Our day was split into three parts: learning about trees in the forest with Duke Forest Director Sara Childs, learning about our trees in our urban Durham environment, and lastly focusing on planting trees around our campus. 

By Sophie Goin ’22, Ethan Goldstein ’22, Elijah Nambo ’22, Rocco Pacchiana ’22, Thomas Pollard ’24, Ben Taylor ’22

When you buy something, do you think about the life it had before it got to you? What about what happens when you’re finished with it? Our “stuff” contributes significantly to our impact on the environment. By analyzing the life cycle of everyday objects, we can make better buying decisions and reduce our impact. Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is a tool for assessing the net effect of a product from creation to decomposition and/or recycling. Click on the images below to learn about the life cycle of the items. 

Friday, November 5, 8:15-3:00

Upper School and 8th Grade Students may apply

This event is offered by the Durham Academy Seminar Program, which creates opportunities for students to learn about topics of current interest that are not part of the regular curriculum. This fall the focus is on trees. Why?

• They’re Earth’s largest, longest living organisms.
• They reduce global warming and enhance biodiversity.
• Their distribution can reveal social and political forces such as redlining.
• They improve human health by filtering air and water, providing relief from summer heat, and reducing stress.

Students have been involved with trees on the DA campus since the Sustainability Committee got started in 2019. In a seminar on climate change, students got excited about the ability of trees to pull carbon dioxide from the air and sequester it in the ground. They raised money and worked with the maintenance department and the Board of Trustees Buildings and Grounds Committee, and in 2020, they planted 80 trees between the track and Pickett Rd.

This fall, DA students will plant more trees as part of the November 5 seminar and a collaboration with Keep Durham Beautiful on November 13.

Collaborates with student Sustainability Committee

By Ann Leininger, DA Parents Council Sustainability Liaison

This school year, Parents Council volunteers are excited to get back to what we do best:  planning events for our entire DA community to attend.  The Turkey Trot, Used Book Sale and Picnic give families an opportunity to connect and engage with each other and we are grateful that we will be able to hold these events in person during the 2021-2022 school year. 

Unfortunately, these events also have the ability to generate a significant amount of waste. Parents Council is working hard to implement sustainable practices at all our events and is partnering with the US Sustainability Committee. We are focusing on minimizing waste,  composting, and recycling to divert as much waste from landfills as possible. We are grateful to the US Sustainability Committee members who are providing information on composting and recycling procedures as well as initiating discussions with a variety of stakeholders around campus to continue making DA as green as possible. This collaboration between students and parents has great promise and our parent volunteers are looking forward to learning more about sustainability from our student leaders!