绿色的新闻

Members of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) pledge to adhere to the Principles of Good Practice. 因为这与可持续性有关, schools agree to strive to “become more environmentally sustainable and can ensure that their graduates are prepared to contribute to a more sustainable world.” So what does it mean when a student with a passion for 反对环境种族主义 uncovers that his school is unwittingly contributing to the problem? 在索伯里学校，这意味着是时候做出改变了.

23岁的利尔·迪亚斯以无拘无束的坚韧追求自己的激情. 他的主要热情是环保主义，也就是, 反对环境种族主义, the phenomenon where communities of color are more heavily targeted for hazardous industry and pollution. 带着灿烂的笑容和势不可挡的态度, the president of the Solebury Environmental Action Corp (SEAC) has spent the last three years identifying and offering solutions to the problem, 一次一个无肉星期五.

大二的时候, level加入了Solebury的Teach2Serve, a program that empowers students to create solutions to social or environmental problems they identify in the world. His cohort conducted research on medical waste incineration regulations to help residents of Bristol, 康涅狄格, 反对在他们社区修建医疗废物焚化炉的提议. “他们被告知，这将把废物转化为能源，”利尔解释说. “They didn't really understand that ‘energy’ meant burning things and spewing all these toxins into the air.”

Residents living near an incinerator have an elevated risk of “all types of cancer…, 包括胃, 结直肠, 肝, 肾, 胸膜癌和肺癌, 男人的胆囊和膀胱, 非霍奇金淋巴瘤和白血病, 儿童癌症/白血病,” a 2019年的研究 published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found. 此外，垃圾焚烧炉会产生有毒的灰，而且污染严重 低效率的 比其他废物管理方法. 和一个 分析 by the research group Energy Justice found that 80% of the nation's largest incinerators are located in communities where people of color are disproportionately affected. 

The research into trash incinerators (sometimes called “waste to energy facilities”) 和ir impact on surrounding communities led Leel to look into how trash was being disposed of by 韦德娱乐app下载地址’s waste hauler. When he found out the waste was being hauled to an incinerator in Chester, Leel went into action. 他激励了SEAC和Teach2Serve的同行, 而且得到了学校的支持, 他们有效地与废物管理公司合作 将废物转移到垃圾填埋场.

不满足于只解决韦德娱乐app下载地址的问题, Leel wanted to raise awareness of this issue at other independent schools. He and Diane Downs P'03 '08 '09, former director of Teach2Serve, presented at “日益绿色-环境管理和可持续发展峰会,” hosted by Tower Hill School in partnership with the Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools (PAIS) 和 Association of Delaware Valley Independent Schools (ADVIS). They shared Leel’s research and experience fighting against regional trash incinerators. “做出的废物管理决定很重要，”里尔说. He urged regional independent schools to set the trend by embracing zero-waste strategies and abandoning incineration and asked participants to consider renegotiating their waste contract to include a "no burn" clause. 

Through Teach2Serve, Leel expanded his connections and worked with a local activist. He helped fight trash incinerators by collecting air and waste databases from state 年龄ncies to work on a statewide bill to cut off incinerator subsidies in NJ. He created a national solid waste database for his capstone project which allows users to see where their waste is being landfilled or incinerated. While this data existed at a state level, Leel combined this information and created energyjustice.net/wastedata这是首个类似的国家数据库. 他最近在一个 TEDx青年大会.

To view additional resources from Leel’s presentation, see the environmental racism 分析 和 2019年的研究.