Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now[In response to IBJ’s June 8 special section on “Going Green”], in 2007, Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School was named the first Green Flag School in Indiana. The Green Flag Program is a national environmental awards program that creates safer and healthier school environments through investigation, education, innovation and action. Brebeuf students work to pass environmentally healthy policies in four different issue areas; reduce, reuse, recycle; indoor air quality; integrated pest management; and non-toxic products.
In 2007-2008, Brebeuf completed level two of reduce, reuse, recycle by continuing paper recycling efforts that collected 89 tons of paper, saved 623,000 gallons of water, 5,423 gallons of oil and 5,340 pounds of air emissions, continuing battery recycling, toner and inkjet recycling and small “techno trash,” i.e., CDs, DVDs, diskettes, etc.
Brebeuf students initiated campus-wide can and bottle recycling and coordinated an electronic recycling drive that collected more than a semi-truck load of potentially harmful electronic equipment. They provided boxes for fluorescent light-bulb recycling and were able to collaborate with Brebeuf’s maintenance department to use eco-friendly cleaning products.
Brebeuf students also addressed green initiatives in the community by planting flowers and trees along Binford Boulevard and other locations in Indianapolis. They adopted an IndyGo bus shelter on 86th Street and adopted the median in front of the school.
This past school year, the students continued their recycling initiatives and also formulated a sustainability policy that will lead to lasting change at Brebeuf. Students organized a creek cleanup on Brebeuf’s campus; and participated in the Spirit and Place Festival session, “Youth Imagining a Just, Sustainable, and Peaceful Community.”
Brebeuf’s Conservation Club leads the school’s Green Flag efforts. The Conservation Club feels a social responsibility to be leaders in creating a more sustainable lifestyle in Indianapolis.
Matthew Hayes
President, Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School
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