Spirit at Play believes that engaging in sustainable practices is vital for educating our young and preserving our resources for future generations.
Sustainability is an important part to our program, our community, and our future. Our curriculum incorporates nature and immersion in the outdoors whenever possible to strive to create a generation of young people who love the earth and care for it with their whole being. Our school frequently goes on neighborhood walks, looking for any debris to help keep our community free of trash and develop a strong sense of positive ownership for the incredible environment we all share. Any suggestions that would further our goals in these areas are most welcome. It is our hope that the classroom activities, the children’s learning, and our community building will be expanded and enriched by these endeavors.
The Missoula Urban Development Project (M.U.D.) has been an inspiration to our program and has taught us how to make the most of our resources and protect our environment. With the assistance of M.U.D., we have developed composting and herb, vegetable, fruit, and flower gardens. We are proud to have achieved champion status with the Sustainable Business Council in 2011 and are members of Eco-Schools USA through the National Wildlife Federation. In 2010, we received the Transportation Best Practices Award from Missoula in Motion for using alternate modes of transportation during the school day. Since then we have implemented a zero-idling policy around our school to help keep the air cleaner for young developing lungs. Additionally, through the Clark Fork Coalition, we are looking to once again adopt a portion of the riverbank along the Clark Fork River as a clean-up site. We have solar panels installed on the roof of our school, composting bins and a worm farm in our garden, and recycling (including for hard to recycle items such as toothbrushes, markers, and more)!
We endeavor to buy eco-friendly products whenever possible and reduce our footprint through composting or reusing instead of sending things to the landfill. We have reusable cloth hand towels lovingly sewn by some of our parents which has cut down an incredible amount of waste for our school. We can have your help with sending your child’s lunch in a vinyl, cloth, or metal lunchbox – something reusable and earth friendly! Plastic and paper sacks are typically not durable enough for small and active hands and usually do not hold up well on field trip days. We encourage you to pack lunch items in reusable containers and strongly discourage single use packaging such as Ziplock bags. You may see a plastic bag return home in your child’s lunch to be washed and reused to reduce our waste!
