Feature image: The LEED, TRUE and WELL Platinum Connie & Kevin Chou Hall in Berkeley, California. Photo courtesy of UC Berkeley.
This article was originally posted on Oct. 3, 2024, on USGBC+ as "An education in zero waste: LEED- and TRUE-certified schools are making the grade." Read the full article.
While TRUE certification for zero waste has strong roots in manufacturing and distribution industries, a growing contingent of schools, from preschool to university, are pursuing TRUE to build circularity principles into their operations and education. Owned and administered by GBCI, TRUE certification defines zero waste as 90% or higher waste diversion from landfill, incineration and the environment. It is complementary to the LEED rating system.
Three LEED- and TRUE-certified schools are setting the standards for experiential learning and instilling important skills and values into the next generation. The TRUE and LEED Platinum Environmental Nature Center and Preschool (ENC) in Newport Beach, California; the TRUE Gold and LEED Platinum Rochester School in Chía, Colombia; and the TRUE, WELL and LEED Platinum Chou Hall at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business in Berkeley, California, have all pursued both leadership standards as part of their sustainability strategy.
The Environmental Nature Center and Preschool
Founded in 1972, the Environmental Nature Center provides transformative experiences through connection with nature. Respecting the natural environment and being mindful of resources is an intrinsic value at the ENC, which connects over 50,000 community members to nature annually through its on-site preschool, school field trips, Traveling Naturalist programs, community programs, nature camps, service-learning programs and professional development opportunities.
“With both LEED and TRUE certification, we looked at the process as a means of holding ourselves to task,” explains Bo Glover, the ENC's executive director. “The certification process helped us identify ways to improve, and empowered us to advocate for more low-waste choices with vendors, and to ask more of those who visit our campus. We’re bringing others along in this process, and it can become an educational experience for everyone involved.”
Today, the ENC and preschool have instituted policies across the property to educate visitors, students and their families alike. Neither the ENC nor the preschool uses single-use plastic or Styrofoam, which means students’ lunches and resources brought onto the property must adhere to the standards.
“The kids are easy; it’s actually the parents that have a harder time with our zero waste policies,” Glover explains. “But our best zero waste advocates haven’t been staff or teachers—it’s the children. They understand why we’re doing this and reinforce those rules at home. It’s neat to see, particularly from kids this young.”
Through reusable items, zero waste event policies, switching to paperless documents and adjusting practices after a zero-waste audit, the ENC now boasts a 97% waste diversion rate, a particularly significant feat considering the number of new visitors contributing to its waste stream, compared to staff trained on zero waste practices.
“It’s our goal to incorporate our TRUE certification into even more of our programming,” says Lori Whalen, assistant director. “We have such an opportunity here to change visitors’ and students’ perspectives. We just hosted a zero waste challenge at our summer nature camps, and it was very motivational to see how involved campers became. We look forward to getting them even more involved!”