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Evanston Township High School has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 35% from a 2018 baseline, according to a sustainability report presented to the District 202 Board of Education at its May 13 meeting.
Milo Slevin and Jexa Edinberg, student climate activists who lead the E-Town Sunrise club, joined ETHS Director of Operations and Sustainability John Crawford and Director of Nutrition Services Kim Minestra to present data on the high school’s energy and waste output as part of a sustainability update for the school board.
Through efforts outlined in the report – including boiler tune-ups, lightbulb changes, steam trap audits and electric landscaping equipment – the school saved more than $4,000 on energy in 2023.
“Thank you to all of you,” board President Pat Savage-Williams said. “You’ve brought us so far in the last few years.”
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Their presentation also included a finalized plan for the ETHS Green New Deal, a multi-step plan to continue and expand on these efforts. Ultimately, the school plans to be carbon neutral by 2050.
The plan outlines eight objectives related to sustainability education, greenhouse gas reduction, water conservation, waste reduction, food provision changes, healthy environments and budget spending.
The ETHS Green New Deal Sustainability Policy Planning Committee, made up of students, staff, community members and technical experts, will meet periodically, the team said at Monday night’s meeting. Subcommittees charged with tackling each of the eight goals will meet monthly. The committee will present reports to the school board at an annual sustainability meeting.
Plan details
The plan includes specific actions to accomplish each goal, the first of which includes creating and maintaining metrics for recording efforts.
“We can celebrate what we have done, and we have done some good things this year,” said Crawford, “But there is a lot of work to do.”
The school will continue to participate in the ComEd/Nicor Gas SEM (strategic energy management) program and install LED lights to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, the operations team plans to work with energy consultants to implement alternative energy sources, like solar panels.
Water will be conserved through a variety of technical efforts. According to Monday’s report, ETHS will electrify its hot water storage, audit steam traps for efficiency and install sub-meters to better monitor water consumption across the building.
The school intends to be zero waste by 2045. That effort will start with a waste audit this fall to identify areas for improvement. In addition, cafeterias will expand composting and continue to reduce their dependence on single-use plastics. Future building renovations will involve reused or recycled materials.
The plan also calls for cafeterias to source 25% of their food locally, make 50% of meals from scratch and offer 50% plant-based meals for lunches by 2030.
Clean air
The school also commits to providing healthy environments with clean air for students and staff, and creating a sustainable purchasing plan in line with these goals.
Beyond these changes, the school will also build a sustainability curriculum into its education, onboard new employees with training in that curriculum and provide sustainable professional development opportunities.
“We really want this to be integrated into the framework of ETHS,” said Slevin, a graduating senior and this past year’s hub coordinator for E-Town Sunrise. “We want every student to leave with a fundamental concept of what is climate change and to have been well educated on this in their classrooms.”
ETHS greenhouse gas emissions down 35% since 2018 is from Evanston RoundTable, Evanston's most trusted source for unbiased, in-depth journalism.