Championingthe environment

At Miss Porter’s School, sustainability isn’t just a topic students learn about in the classroom it’s a priority they work toward through Earth Club, which has the mission to promote sustainability and love of the outdoors, and to bring awareness to environmental issues. Their sustainability work includes tracking and reducing students’ food waste, planting edible gardens, and volunteering for the Farmington Land Trust, a charity that protects more than 300 acres of natural terrain.

Here, Earth Club 2023-24 leaders Kathryn Ausere ’24, Angel Shi ’24, Margaret Fennebresque ’25 and Kate Hebard ’25 speak about their environmental actions and how they hope to mitigate climate change. This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

Why was it important for you to become involved in Earth Club?

AS: I’ve been interested in the environment since I was a little kid. I have a lot of ideas about sustainability, and how the school can become better at it.

KH: I joined to honor my grandfather. He was a high school biology teacher, and he instilled in me from an early age that we have to respect and protect the Earth. Through my involvement in the club, it feels like I have a connection with him and also with the world around me.

KA: Every year, my family takes a trip to Dallas to see relatives, and I have observed that the landscape of that city is much more artificial, with highways and concrete, than it is here in Connecticut. That has opened my eyes to the need to safeguard the natural world. I also joined because it’s so much fun participating in the grounds cleanup for Earth Day.

MF: When I was in middle school, a neighbor invited me to help care for bees, and I learned how important they are to the environment as pollinators, and how at risk they are as a species. That made me want to get involved with Earth Club to make our campus more sustainable.

Which Earth Club initiative have you enjoyed the most?

KH: We organized a spring cleaning fundraiser where students and faculty donated their unwanted items for a sale. We raised about $300, which we used to buy a serviceberry tree, a native plant that’s a vital habitat for birds and bees. We planted it in a nature preserve owned by the Farmington Land Trust. It was special to contribute to Porter’s sustainability legacy and see our work positively impact the land.

MF: For me, it was volunteering at the Farmington Land Trust’s fundraiser to support its planned Wilcox-Bushley Homestead Environmental Learning Center. We set tables and served people, and Angel played the flute. It was cool to meet new people and see how the community comes together to support the environment.

AS: I enjoyed participating in the 2023 Student Sustainability Summit, where we joined with students from other local independent schools to listen to environmental speakers, share about our sustainability projects and work together to come up with new solutions to climate change.

KA: One of my favorite activities has been gardening. In the spring, we got to plant our own garden with vegetables such as cherry tomato, kale, cauliflower, squash, broccoli and pumpkin. In the fall, we harvest what we have grown. Participating in this process of planting a seed and, a few months later, seeing it become a plant that can sustain life—it’s miraculous.

How does being part of Earth Club shape your sense of agency in protecting the planet?

MF: We get to see the benefits of our work, and it makes me feel like I can make real, lasting change. It increases my confidence that I can be an environmental activist and get more done for the Earth.

KA: One time I felt I was really making a difference was with our work on food waste, which produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas. We weighed the food waste students produce at lunch, and used nudging techniques to get them to change their behavior. We were able to reduce lunchtime food waste by an average of 15 pounds. Seeing hard evidence of our impact was rewarding.

AS: It is fulfilling to see how all our projects evolve and attract more people who want to work with us for the planet. Climate change is such a big problem; being able to work together and do our part to solve it creates hope.

KH: The climate crisis can feel extremely overwhelming, and we’re the first generation to really see its impacts on our daily lives. That can make you feel really hopeless, but it can also instill a sense of duty in you. That’s what Earth Club helps to fulfill. It allows us to talk about these issues and find solutions, which makes things feel a lot more manageable. It’s really rewarding being able to feel like you’re doing something for the world.