The Belmont Hill Sustainability Club has concluded a successful year filled with impactful initiatives, research, and community engagement, with projects ranging from local cleanups to representing the school at the IBSC.
The club hosted local waste cleanups at three locations: The Fells in Winchester, Mystic Lake in Medford, and Farm Pond in Framingham. In collaboration with the Community Service Club, the club also held a fundraiser in support of Palisades High School in Los Angeles, which lost a significant amount of their infrastructure from the wildfires in January. By selling candy bags at hockey games, the club raised nearly 2000 dollars. The proceeds went to the Palisades High School Band to pay for new instruments; ultimately, with those funds, the school was able to hold a concert.
This year, the Sustainability Club also sought to quantify the school’s carbon footprint. Through the school’s utility bill and a schoolwide transportation survey, the club put numbers to the school’s environmental impact. In 2024, the school burned over 118,000 therms of natural gas, releasing around 626 metric tons of CO₂, enough to heat more than 1,300 homes through a New England winter. It also consumed 2 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, but it obtains this energy through renewable sources. The Jordan Athletic Center accounted for 42% of both the school’s electricity and natural gas, largely due to its ice rink. In the transportation survey, 70% of the student body reported that they get to school by car, creating 14 tons of CO₂ every week, the equivalent of 30,000 miles of driving. Next year, the club hopes to explore water and waste usage as well to further the depth of the carbon footprint project.
The Sustainability Club also engaged in conferences, interacting and building relations with other schools’ clubs. In the James Tufts Pener environmental conference hosted in April, club members Alex Zhang ’26 and Giacomo Turco ’26 presented on impact investing and the economics of a transition to a renewable economy, while Nathan Zhang ’26 explored the importance of sustainable transportation and the challenges governments face in making it a viable option for more people.
Over March break, many club members attended a Sustainability Trip to Iceland, with a focus on renewable energy. Nearly 100% of Iceland’s electricity and heating comes from renewable sources—mostly geothermal and hydropower, a culture that the club hopes to spread and eventually have the school adopt in its construction of a new dining hall in the future.
Finally, the club helped plan for this summer’s IBSC conference to be a sustainable event. First, the club found truly sustainable metal water bottles, not just those made of recycled plastics, to achieve the school’s goals of reducing plastic water bottle waste while not generating more waste at the end of the event. Another issue addressed was the fact that so many teachers would fly from across the world to visit Belmont Hill’s campus. Ultimately, the school decided to offset all carbon emissions, making this IBSC the first carbon-neutral one in its history.
Overall, the club has made major strides in making Belmont Hill more sustainable. The school has invested in green infrastructure upgrades, including semi-permeable pavement, EV chargers, heat pumps, and a solar-ready building. As Belmont Hill heads into the 2025-2026 school year, the club is eager to continue and expand on its climate action both on and off campus.