Guiding Principles
	Conserve School practices conscientious stewardship of natural resources on its Lowenwood campus. Conserve School engages students in: An academic curriculum that emphasizes the science of conservation. Outdoor activities incorporating Leave No Trace principles. Regular stewardship projects on campus, including eradicating invasive species, maintaining an organic garden and orchard, researching the health of campus lakes, and keeping bees in the school apiary. Daily sustainable practices on campus, including composting, recycling, and energy use monitoring. Fawn curled up on the Lowenstine Estate lawn. Photo courtesy of Jeff Rennicke, faculty member. Conserve School seeks opportunities to model and support stewardship and sustainability beyond the campus itself, for example by helping protect local ecosystems through community service work, by choosing “green” products and services, and by showcasing renewable sources of energy. For direction on environmental stewardship and sustainable practices on campus, Conserve School looks to its staff specialists as well as its partnerships with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point College of Natural Resources, Audubon International, and Wisconsin Green and Healthy Schools. For definitions of the terms “environmental stewardship” and “sustainability,” Conserve School refers to the following: Stewardship: The concept of responsible caretaking, based upon the premise that we do not own resources but are managers of resources, and are responsible to future generations for their condition.1 Sustainability: Development that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”2 1. Environmental Education Glossary, Wisconsin Model Academic Standards, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Website, 2008, originally published in 1998 <www.dpi.state.wi.us/standards/pdf/envired.pdf> 2. United Nations 1987 Brundtland Report, as quoted in the Wisconsin Environmental Science Course Framework glossary, published by the Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education, College of Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, 2008 <www.uwsp.edu/wcee/envsci>