Sustainability Timeline - John Burroughs School

This page contains a timeline of our school's most important sustainability-related initiatives and achievements. It is updated as we achieve greater progress toward becoming an ecologically more responsible community.

1970	Annual Potpourri (500-family garage sale) launched
1971	Drey Land environmental science programs began
1974	Outdoor Education trips and programs began
1993	First course on Ecology and Conservation offered
2002	Joined the Global Youth Leadership program
2002	Urban Issues & Design Class launched
2005	Student Environmental Club established
2005	7th grade Geography and Global Issues course established
2007	Bee colony established to produce honey
2008	Super High Mileage Club established
2009	Biodiesel production began
2010	Herb garden created to provide fresh herbs to the kitchen
2010	Globalization and Sustainability senior elective established
2011	Faculty and Staff Sustainability Committee established
2011	Prairie restoration project completed
2012	Advanced Placement Environmental Science course established
2012	Garden constructed and first garden class offered
2012	Sustainability-themed year
2012	Eliminated sale of water in plastic bottles
2012	Joined a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program
2014	First LEED-certified buildings completed, including the new Taylor Family Athletic Center, new Haertter Performing Arts Center and the renovated Commons and Cissel Center
2014	Low-emitting and car-pooling parking spaces created
2014	Sustainability became a school-wide self-study issue as part of the school’s re-accreditation process
2014	Kitchen and dining room began composting all food waste, along with implementing many other sustainable practices
2014	For the first time, greenhouse used year-round to grow produce for school lunch program
2015	Faculty member used his sabbatical to travel the nation touring schools to learn about best practices in sustainability
2015	Students for Sustainable Change organization created to expand work started by the Student Environmental Club
2015	School-wide composting began to apply to the school’s garden and greenhouse vegetable production
2017	MUN Impact formed at the global level, providing students with a framework for taking action in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. A JBS faculty co-sponsor of THIMUN was one of the thought leaders who created this organization
2018	LEED-certified STAR Building completed, including a geothermal heat pump system and a biodiesel processing facility. Cold weather gardening moved into the STAR’s new greenhouse
2019	STAR Building solar panels brought online
2019	The first UN MUN Summit Impact held in New York, attended by more than 400 students representing 25 nations. Six JBS students presented their Tampon Drive project
2019	JBS Faculty co-sponsor of THIMUN is using his sabbatical to travel the world in search of student leaders and school programs that support the UN Sustainable Development Goals via MUN Impact
2020	The senior Engineering Fundamentals elective completed an international sustainable development project in collaboration with Global Brigades, a 501(c)(3). Students helped to design an improved clean water supply system for an elementary school in rural Panama. The students then raised the $3000 necessary to construct the system, which was completed in April 2021.