Mackintosh Academy Littleton has been named as a “Gold Leader” in the Colorado Environmental Leadership (ELP) program. A team of faculty and students attended the awards ceremony on October 9 to receive the award.
Because of the collective efforts of our Green Team of students, parents and staff, and sustainability coordinator Alison Weems, Mack Littleton has progressed rapidly from ELP Bronze Achiever in 2016 to Silver Partner in 2017 to Gold Leader in 2018. The program creates partnerships among businesses, governments, and organizations. The goal is to foster good relationships, reward environmental performance, and create a healthier, cleaner, and more sustainable Colorado.
Some of our fellow members in the Gold Leader category are Ball Aerospace, Children’s Hospital Denver, Denver International Airport, US Mint Denver, and Great Divide Brewing. Mackintosh Littleton is the only Colorado independent school to be recognized as a Gold Leader.
The school’s environmental initiatives kicked into high gear in 2014, when six sixth grade students wrote and won a $96,000 grant from the State Farm Youth Advisory Board to bring solar power to the campus. This made Mackintosh Littleton the first majority solar-powered school in Littleton. Since then, Mack Littleton has fully embraced the challenges of the 21st century to take seriously the responsibility to be good stewards of the environment.
Mackintosh students of all ages design, participate in and lead environmental initiatives. Highlights include:
• Building a terraced erosion control project modeled on ancient Incan farming practices
• Creating “Messh Kits” – reusable plates and utensils to replace paper and plastic at community meals
• Picking up trash and clearing invasive weeds from an adopted neighborhood park
• Growing organic crops in a hydroponic greenhouse
• Analyzing real-time and long-term data on energy generated from solar panels
• Recycling over four tons of glass since 2017
• Brainstorming new ways to use repurposed materials, such as creating lanyards from used juice pouches
We want to thank our entire community for all they do to support sustainability at Mack, from delivering wine bottles and recyclable batteries to carline on Wednesdays, to volunteering to help with green initiatives, to bringing reusable plates and utensils to school events! It truly takes a “Smart Village”!