Frost Valley and the Earth: Introducing A New Blog Section

02/20/2017

Hi everyone! My name is Katharine Chute and I am the Sustainability Coordinator here at Frost Valley. I am excited to announce a new monthly section on the Frost Valley blog!

“Frost Valley and the Earth” will share stories about our steps towards being the most environmentally friendly camp possible and about how our visitors and staff are such an important part of this. You will be hearing from many different staff voices who are all members of our Green Team, an active committee that helps plan our environmental projects.

Did you know that Frost Valley YMCA has a “Sustainability Statement”? Our environmental sustainability efforts are guided by these words:

At Frost Valley YMCA, we implement sustainability practices to reduce our carbon emissions, protect the ecosystem, and responsibly source our food and energy. Our ongoing projects are designed to minimize our impact on the planet and to incorporate quality educational opportunities.

One of our projects over the past year has been to upgrade our recycling system with new green and blue recycling bins.

You will find these or similar in all of our lodging and program spaces.

We’ve also added brightly colored signs to the sorting experience!

We call this the "sorting station" in the Dining Hall. — We call this the “Sorting Station” in the Dining Hall.

We've come up with some questions to guide the process. — This gives you a closer look at the guiding questions.

You will see this sign at the Welcome Center. — Outside the Welcome Center, you can see an overview of all of our waste sorting programs.

This is just one part of our larger plan to reduce our environmental impact more and more each year. And your role is so important! Thank you to all of our program participants for helping us divert waste from the landfill and reduce the energy needed to manufacture new products.

I hope you will check back frequently to read more from our Green Team members.

Some of our projects may start behind the scenes in our program support departments, but our goal is always to involve our larger community in our efforts. We welcome your thoughts and questions!

Until next time,

Katharine

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Katharine Chute

Katharine Chute is the Sustainability Coordinator at Frost Valley YMCA. She works on projects ranging from renewable energy and recycling to habitat enhancement and local food production. She is originally from Minnesota, where she first developed her love of the outdoors on canoe camping trips near the Canadian border. Here in New York, she enjoys exploring the Catskill Mountains by foot and bike and sharing her love of the natural world with others!