Environmental Stewardship

Our Joint Environmental Mission best expresses Buckingham Friends School’s commitment to the global environment and to fostering environmental sustainability by building community across international borders.

Environmental concerns are shared by all, regardless of nationality, culture, or geographical region, and serve as a touchstone for nurturing international understanding. Through JEM our students partner with their peers in other countries to better understand environmental issues and to advocate for more environmentally sustainable practices. In Ecuador, for instance, seventh and eighth graders learn from their friends in the Amazon about sustainable agriculture and the effects of the fossil fuels industry on indigenous populations and the rainforest environment. In Russia, students from grades six, seven, and eight work with their peers in St. Petersburg to consider the Earth’s “rights” to clean air, clean water, and healthy soil.

We try to live these values at home as well, as students take an active role in caring for their campus environment and engaging in environmentally friendly practices, such as recycling and minimizing waste. Our Stewardship Committee, composed of students in grades three through eight, organizes our school’s ’ recycling effort and encourages students to take an active role in caring for the campus. Institutionally, our current master planning effort emphasizes green building practices and seeks ways to use our 40 acres of woodland as a model of environmental stewardship. Buckingham Friends School students learn to care for their own environment and understand the effects their local actions have in the world around them.