Sustainability

Sustainability is part of the curriculum from Lower School through Upper School:

• The Upper School has an active and engaged Environmental Club, where students promote conservation by fostering collaboration, supporting a diversity of opinions, and setting achievable goals to create sustainable changes on the CA campus. 
• The Upper School has created the lab-based Climate Change course, providing a forum for students to deeply investigate this defining issue of our time. Read more.
• In the Upper School honors course Environmental Chemistry, students devise real-life solutions to environmental challenges.
• Eighth Graders investigate scientific solutions to some of our most pressing climate issues. 
• In Lower School, students are taught about where trash goes, and learn about landfills and their significance in bringing seagulls to Colorado.
• The Middle School Future City team imagines, researches, designs, and builds sustainable cities.
• In Lower School, students learn about honeybees as part of their study of nature’s systems. CA’s beekeeper brings live bees (safely contained) and other teaching aids from the field into the classroom to give students an opportunity to observe these tiny but important contributors to the global ecosystem.
• Vermicomposting—indoor composting with worms—is an ongoing project in Pre-K through Grade 3 science classes. Students collect fall leaves, shred newspapers, and mix in leftover food waste to make bedding for new vermicompost bins. Learn more.
• In the Grade 5 capstone project, Voices of Change, students tackle problems that are important to them—often these are climate challenges.

CA’s commitment to recycling and composting is foundational to our environmental stewardship efforts. 

• Bins for recycling and composting are strategically placed throughout campus and in all buildings and classrooms.
• Nearly zero food waste is produced from our Dining Hall—95% is composted.
• Dining Hall composting and grounds composting (leaves and grass clippings) divert hundreds of thousands of pounds of waste from landfills.
• Guster—CA’s industrial biodigester—made its debut in 2023. The super composter turns food waste into organic fertilizer for landscaping to keep our campus green. Read more.
• Sodexo, our food service partner, is committed to sustainability and reducing its environmental impact. Read more and download their report.
• Individual office bins emphasize recycling and composting with normal-sized receptacles, while landfill bins are noticeably smaller.
• CA has eliminated many of its printed brochures, newsletters, and handouts, moving to digital communications.
• Students receive course materials and homework on their iPads, and they complete and submit assignments electronically.
• All printers require access by ID to reduce unnecessary printing.
• Choral and Music Departments have transitioned to digital scores and sheet music-reading apps.

CA encourages bus ridership for families through our extensive bus service program across 65 Denver-area ZIP Codes.

• Ten metro-wide bus routes are offered to families, which eliminates hundreds of daily single-family car trips to school.
• CA’s diesel buses and campus vehicles use 20% bio-fuel—the maximum percentage allowed by engine manufacturers.
• Our fleet includes a full-size 65-passenger hybrid bus.
• CA participates in a program piloted by the Regional Air Quality Council, which provides funding for retrofitting older buses so that they meet today’s stringent emissions standards.
• Members of the Upper School Environmental Club research the impact of idling cars on the environment on an annual basis.
• CA partners with Way to Go SchoolPool to encourage carpooling as another alternative to our bus routes, further reducing traffic and emissions.
• CA is installing EV stations on campus.

CA prioritizes sustainability in all of its cleaning practices.

• Cleaning chemicals are 100% biodegradable and safe for the environment.
• Paper products are made of the highest possible recycled content and/or derived from rapidly renewable resources.
• CA employs hands-free technology in all restrooms, kitchens, and classrooms for its sinks and paper towel and foam soap dispensers—reducing waste and the spread of germs by 65%.
• Coreless toilet paper eliminates cardboard roll waste.
• Housekeeping staff hand sort each 3-bin (recycling, composting, landfill) disposal system nightly. This intentional focus results in a diversion rate of 90%—meaning only 10% of disposed items end up in a landfill.
• CA also partners with Ridwell on an annual basis to increase awareness about items like plastic film that cannot be easily recycled through traditional means.

CA has implemented green best practices to create healthy, highly efficient, and cost-saving buildings:

• Building envelopes are designed for energy-saving heating and cooling. These include:
  • Variable frequency drives in all newer buildings
  • High-quality windows and insulation
  • Siding materials enhanced for Colorado conditions
  • Net-zero, thermally tight air infiltration
• Low VOC paint and flooring are installed in all buildings, improving indoor air quality and learning conditions.
• CA uses high-efficiency LED lightbulbs and has installed occupancy sensors to automatically turn off lights.
• Buildings take advantage of daylight harvesting—using skylights and strategically angled windows and ceilings to alleviate the need to turn on lights.
• Light-colored roofs reduce the heat-island effect, keeping spaces cool and saving energy.
• Restrooms in all buildings employ low-flow toilets and waterless urinals to conserve water.
• All buildings offer water-filling stations, reducing the presence of single-use plastic bottles.

To mitigate energy waste on its 94-acre campus, CA has adopted these green policies: 

IRRIGATION

• 100% of water for lawns and grounds is drawn from Woody’s Pond.
• Woody’s Pond ditch water is non-potable and chemical-free.
• Unused irrigation water flows into creeks and ditches for downstream neighbors.

LANDSCAPING

• CA plants 50-100 trees per year, adding to the diversity of species and offsetting CO2.
• CA prioritizes replacing bluegrass in strategic areas with native grasses and xeriscaping that require little or no water.
• The school selects low-water-use ornamental flowers for pots and beds.
• CA purposefully plants honeybee- and butterfly-attracting flowers and shrubs all over campus. Several honeybee colonies thrive on campus and serve to encourage awareness of pollinators and their different roles in promoting a healthy environment. Additionally, the campus is home to a number of wild beehives.