Mission
Based on its longstanding tradition of community service and stewardship of the natural world, Millbrook School is committed to environmental stewardship in its planning, practices, and educational direction. In the context of its overall mission, Millbrook seeks to encourage environmental awareness and responsibility in the daily life of the school and in the actions of individual community members. To fulfill its mission of environmental stewardship, Millbrook upholds the following operating goals:
 
  1. To make Millbrook School a more sustainable community that meets its needs by moving away from actions that degrade the planet's life support systems and resources while moving toward actions that sustain and restore those systems and resources.

  2. To employ practices that limit intake of resources and output of waste and lessen environmental impact. The following questions guide and inform our practices and decision-making:
    1. Will this decision promote natural resource and energy conservation, lessen our dependence on fossil fuels, and encourage the use of renewable energy?
    2. Will this decision encourage the Three R's of Recycling -- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, promote the purchase and use of recycled materials (paper, wood, carpeting, etc.), and limit waste and pollution?
    3. Will this decision encourage the careful stewardship of Millbrook's natural resources (water, soil, land, air, biodiversity)?

  3. To raise the level of ecological literacy and environmental activity of the community in both curricular and extracurricular life.

  4. To promote environmentally sound land management and ecological practices which preserve biodiversity, wildlife habitat, and healthy ecosystems.

  5. To set high standards for environmental health and safety.

  6. To build and renovate for energy efficiency and conservation, use renewable energy alternatives, and incorporate green design principles.
About Millbrook's Environmental Council
Purpose
The Environmental Council (EC) promotes the environmental stewardship mission and goals by:

  • integrating environmental stewardship into the programs, policies, and activities of the Millbrook School community;
  • recommending annual actions/projects to fulfill the environmental stewardship mission;
  • serving as a forum for the discussion of environmental issues and welcoming input from all community members.

Structure/Membership
The EC is composed of faculty, staff, and student members which meet bi-monthly to address environmental programs and policies. EC meetings are open to the community. The EC is a recommending body to the head of school and operates by consensus.

Members of the EC are dedicated to making Millbrook a greener school with an active and vital environmental program. Other community members, including interested and knowledgeable students, faculty, staff, trustees, parents, or alumni, may become involved with the EC to lend their support and expertise on specific projects.