Omaha Creighton Prep students' mission to make the campus more sustainable
Students at Omaha Creighton Prep are on a mission to make the entire school environmentally friendly.
There are several clean energy projects to make the campus more sustainable.
"We met with our administration and our president of Creighton Prep to talk about sustainability, how we can implement the curriculum and also just the infrastructure of Prep," Ryan Quinn, president of the Creighton Prep Sustainability Club, said.
Right now, Creighton Prep has a stormwater catchment garden and a zero-waste cafeteria operation.
"The plates, utensils, all of that is fully reusable so that just gets cleaned after every lunch and reused the next day. Then as far as food waste goes, all of that goes straight to the compose instead of the landfill," Quinn said.
Monday, the school's sustainability club hosted students from Jesuit Academy showcasing the many student-led sustainability projects.
"It's definitely cool to actually see the work we've been doing having an effect on younger students and hopefully inspiring them," Quinn said.
He added that it's been amazing to see everything come to life, including the solar panels that produce electrical energy. Those power operations of Leahy Stadium, including the lights and car charging stations.
"For the solar project and electric car chargers specifically we want that to be kind of like a proof of concept for what could be the future at Prep," Quinn said.
The school uses an app to track the energy and can use it for lessons.
"We're hoping to take that momentum and make even more strides in the future," Quinn said.
Although Quinn is a senior, he hopes the club moves forward reaching its ultimate goal.
"Ultimately I'd like to see a concrete definitive plan to reach net zero mission here at Prep. Not only will that make us a leader in the community, but it will set an important example," Quinn said.