Dear Board of Trustees,

Over the weekend of Jan 10th, forty-eight Conserve School alumni had the opportunity to return to Lowenwood for a reunion. Everyone had a wonderful time meeting like-minded peers from other semesters, reconnecting with our teachers, and of course enjoying the incredible natural beauty of the Northwoods. However, upon talking at length with each other and reflecting on the time we spent at Conserve School, a mutual concern arose. It has come to our attention that the school is much less environmentally conscious than it could be, in large part due to a lack of transparency and access to information about its carbon footprint. This is problematic for a variety of reasons, but before elaborating on those we’d like to be clear on what we mean by “carbon footprint”.

A “carbon footprint” is an all-encompassing measure of the environmental impact that an individual, organization, or school’s day to day activities cause. It considers the fossil-fuels used for electricity, heating, transportation, and even areas such as recreation and food-production. It shows the total amount of greenhouse gasses produced by all of these activities. At Conserve School, the determination of a CO2 footprint would involve an extensive audit of all of the ways that our school relies on fossil fuels from day to day. This initial audit would be solely for the purpose of finding out where the school currently lies in terms of fossil fuel dependence. Without this information, it is impossible to know how “green” Conserve School actually is.

As a school that professes and values a commitment to protecting the natural world, we feel that Conserve School has a special responsibility to be transparent in regards to its carbon footprint. If students are taught to love the natural surroundings of the school, but are not aware of what environmental impact their lifestyle has, or how to improve upon it, the school is not truly meeting James Lowenstein’s goal of “inspiring environmental stewardship”. Similarly, the school will not be able to improve its sustainability measures until the information becomes available. We, the alumni, have a few suggestions for increasing the school’s transparency and commitment to sustainability. We would like to see Conserve School commit to:

1) An immediate assessment of the school’s carbon footprint and energy consumption including electricity, natural gas, automotive fuels, and other resources with the intent of making the information public and then embarking on a quantifiable program of improvement with clear goals, offset programs, and timelines.

2) Hire a “Dean of Sustainability” to oversee the school’s activity, ensure commitment to the stated goals of sustainability and act as a liaison with alumni and the public to ensure transparency and inspire others to follow the lead of Conserve in matters of sustainability and environmental responsibility.

3) The development of a consistent “green meeting protocol” to ensure that all meetings, conferences, and events held at Conserve (such as AP teacher trainings) are done with sustainability at their core both as a way to emphasize the in-house goals of sustainability and to model the mission of the school in all of the school’s activities.

The alumni truly loved Conserve School and found it to be a transformative place that allowed us to love the earth and inspired us to protect it. If you need any evidence of our enthusiasm, look no farther than the student body of this upcoming semester, most of whom heard of Conserve through a friend. It is our love for Lowenwood that makes us go out, recruit more students, spread the word, and donate money to continue Lowenstein's mission. Thank you.

What we are asking is that you help to further Lowenstein’s mission and honor his vision for Conserve School by taking these necessary steps to make the school environmentally conscious. We want to continue to be able to love this place as much as we always have.

Thank you once again,