Our Mission of Environmental Sustainability ~
As a Catholic high school in the Jesuit tradition, Bellarmine College Preparatory is committed to serving God by educating our community about ecological stewardship and solidarity with creation, and by modeling that stewardship and solidarity in the day-to-day operations of our school.
Education
"Education in environmental responsibility can encourage ways of acting which directly and significantly affect the world around us” (Laudato Si, 211). As Jesuit educators, we will integrate environmental learning and care for all of God’s creation into our mission to educate the whole person and to form men and women for and with others.
Stewardship
Mindful of our role as stewards of creation, we will seek ways to reduce our use of non-renewable resources and will demonstrate care for our common home by making our commitment to sustainability an integral part of planning, construction, renovation, and operation of buildings on campus. We have and will continue to introduce practices that conserve water, promote efficient energy use, limit landfill waste and expand our recycling initiatives and our use of fair trade and organic products. We have developed a five-year sustainability plan which identifies various initiatives further to reduce our energy consumption and C02 generation.
Our long-term goal is to achieve climate neutrality.
Solidarity
"The world is God’s loving gift, and we are called quietly to imitate his generosity in self-sacrifice and good works.” (Laudato Si, 220) Care for creation is part of Bellarmine’s commitment to live according to the pattern of service inaugurated by Jesus Christ.
As such, our community commits to making service to our common home an integral part of our commitment to the local and global community through direct action and simplicity of means.
"The universe unfolds in God, who fills it completely. Hence, there is a mystical meaning to be found in a leaf, in a mountain trail, in a dewdrop, in a poor person's face. The ideal is not only to pass from the exterior to the interior to discover the action of God in the soul, but also to discover God in all things." (Laudato Si, 233)
This environmental sustainability mission statement was adopted by the Board of Trustees on February 29, 2017.