Millbrook Celebrates Earth Day

While every day at Millbrook students, faculty, and staff recycle and practice environmentally friendly habits, our Earth Day celebration is special in that the whole community comes together throughout our week of planned activities to embrace our core value of environmental stewardship of the natural world.

 

In preparation for Earth Day, students and faculty gathered on Monday, April 23rd, for sporting events; and on Tuesday, April 24th, they gathered to watch relevant television series and documentaries, including Rotten and Food Chains. Students who participate in Millbrook's Environmental Council and SCAPE also created and sold Earth Day-themed shirts, raising over $1000 for the Ocean Conservancy, which was a non-profit organization that the community voted to contribute to. 

On Wednesday, the community participated in nature-related trivia games, and after classes on Thursday, April 26th, the community gathered on Pulling Quad for our annual Earth Day cleanup. After splitting into groups, everyone headed out on assigned routes to pick up trash across our campus and along local roads. Groups also worked on our farm, processed recyclables, and engaged in stream cleanup to help maintain our wetland buffer zone. Covering approximately 4 square miles, students, faculty, and staff collected 580 pounds of litter.

The community gathered for a farm-to-table picnic on Thursday after the clean-up, and then in the Flagler Memorial Chapel for a talk from architect and social entrepreneur Dennis Wedlick. Mr. Wedlick creates affordable housing for under-resourced farm workers in the Hudson Valley. 

 

The week concluded with a visit from three alumni - Jacqueline Morrison '94, Eliza Glaister '04, and Nick Pandolfi ’04 - who joined us for a sustainable food-focused and fun event. Jacqueline is a private chef, sommelier, and event producer who has been awarded for her passion for local, seasonal, and organic food. Eliza is an NYC-based chef and caterer who is also passionate about local and seasonal ingredients. Her first professional cooking experience was at Prune in NYC and today she owns her own business. Nick works as the general manager of Jono Pandolfi USA with his brother Jono '95. Jono Pandolfi USA creates ceramic dishware and has collaborated with many high-profile chefs. The culinary collaboration included special menu items, which were served in the dining hall, as well as discussion of their work in the culinary arts and importance of sustainable cooking via using local and seasonal ingredients.