As another year draws to a close, Maine communities have shown that meaningful change often starts at home. In Brunswick, institutions large and small have taken decisive steps toward a more sustainable future, exemplifying how local initiatives can create ripples of positive impact far beyond municipal borders.

Take the Brunswick School Department, which has emerged as a beacon of environmental stewardship in 2024. While its primary mission remains preparing students for their diverse futures, the department has recognized that this future must include a healthy planet. By aligning with Brunswick’s Climate Action Plan, school officials have demonstrated that educational excellence and environmental responsibility aren’t competing priorities – they’re complementary imperatives.

The schools’ commitment extends across their considerable footprint: multiple buildings, athletic fields, parking facilities, and green spaces are all being reimagined through the lens of sustainability. This comprehensive approach shows how institutional change when properly implemented, can serve as both a practical solution and a powerful teaching tool.

The plan, created through a collaborative public process, strives for a healthier, more sustainable future and dovetails with the State climate plan.

While our students and staff have long recycled paper, cardboard, and beverage containers, we’ve upped our game with new programs designed to reduce our carbon footprint. Even better, many of these initiatives bring significant cost savings.

First, we’re investing in solar power. Two of our buildings, Kate Furbish Elementary School and Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary School, feature solar panels on the roof, and we plan to add them to the high school when we replace that roof, most likely in 2026.

BSD also participates in a community solar project, using electricity generated at offsite solar fields. Scott Smith, Director of Facilities, Grounds, and Food Service, tells me that the community solar project and the roof panels at Kate Furbish and Harriet Beecher Stowe save us more than $50,000 annually.

In addition to producing significant electricity through sunlight, we hope to reduce our electrical use by replacing older light fixtures with modern, energy-efficient LED lights. Kate Furbish already has LED lights, and we’re speaking with the Town about introducing LED to our other buildings.

On the road, we have begun transitioning to cleaner, reliable propane buses. The first arrived in 2020, and propane buses now account for nearly a third of our fleet. In addition to the environmental benefits — our buses run 90% cleaner than federal standards — Transportation Director Michelle Caron tells me that propane uses less motor oil and preventive maintenance costs are lower.

Finally, there’s an old saying that one person’s trash is another’s treasure, and to that end, we’ve begun composing part of our food waste. Right now, that includes vegetable ends and peelings, along with unused portions. Garbage to Garden, the Portland-based curbside compost service, picks up that waste weekly. In addition, while cafeterias regularly use washable trays, there are times when students are served on single-use trays —and those trays are compostable.

While many of these environmental initiatives offer financial benefits, we’ve undertaken them because it’s the right thing to do. I’m pleased that our students are quick to jump in and participate in these efforts, learning responsibility, commitment, and selflessness. And this tells me that the future of our environment will be in good hands.

Phillip Potenziano is superintendent of Brunswick schools.