Sustainability & Stewardship

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The Elevate Youth staff are committed stewards of the environment, and we do our best to live sustainable lifestyles. While these low-impact practices come fairly easily to us, we understand that the youth and mentors we serve do not necessarily view this type of behavior as a priority in their own lives. We believe that this is in part due to a lack of knowledge about how human habits are harming our planet, which is why we include environmental education as a core part of our curriculum.

 

HERE ARE SOME OF THE EFFORTS THAT ELEVATE YOUTH TAKES TO TIE-IN STEWARDSHIP AND SUSTAINABILITY TO OUR PROGRAMS:

 

  • Local, organic food. We are committed to getting local, organic food to bring on our trips, for example, from our community supported agriculture (CSA) share from Family Dinner in Somerville.

  • Public transportation. We are committed to using public transportation when feasible to access our outings - for example when we have sailing trips at Piers Park Sailing Center in East Boston, or kayaking trips at the Blessing of the Bay Boathouse in Somerville.

  • Recycle. Our office is located within The Nonprofit Center in downtown Boston. The building is LEED certified, including the three-stream recycling services throughout the building.

  • Kick plastic. Our sponsors Patagonia and Costa have inspired us to kick the habit of using single-use cups, straws, containers, and bags. Our staff made this commitment on June 8, 2018 (World Oceans Day).

  • Leave-No-Trace (LNT). Our Executive Director is a NOLS Alumni and Leave No Trace Master Educator. Our staff is trained in LNT curriculum, and we use the 7 principles as a benchmark when we create trip plans and write outing curriculum.

 
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Alec Griswold