On a recent visit to Vermont Academy, I found a school and students dedicated to environmental stewardship. VA student environmental work is beyond anything I participated in or saw during my high school days when students concentrated on bringing recycling to the forefront.

VA students are working to raise $40,000 to install a wind turbine on campus. The turbine would generate a portion of the school’s electrical needs reducing the demand for conventionally generated grid power (coal, gas, and nuclear).

Check out their case video:

I especially enjoy their negation of the “wind turbines are ugly” argument. They create a powerful choice- smokestacks or turbines.

The school is also investing in other forms of alternative energy. This past March VA installed solar panels atop the Williams Gymnasium. Like the wind turbine the solar panels will reduce VA’s carbon footprint and energy consumption by supplanting boiler use.

One final note that underscores VA’s commitment to reducing its carbon footprint. A particularly eco-minded student raised money through the school’s trustees and others for the school to purchase it’s first bio-diesel truck.