When people visit Blue Ridge School, one of  the first things they mention is how beautiful the campus is. From the vibrant lakefront in the heart of campus to the pollinator meadows along Bacon Hollow Road, Blue Ridge School has taken many steps to improve and protect its natural resources. Those efforts have not gone unnoticed. Blue Ridge School won the schools category for the 2021 Better Business Challenge, presented by the Community Climate Collaborative. 

Seventy-five businesses in the Charlottesville area participated in the friendly competition that provides businesses with checklists of meaningful climate actions they can take. Initiatives are given a point value as businesses complete tasks that fit their needs and resources.

Blue Ridge School’s efforts were led by Director of Natural Resources Cory Woods. Following the announcement of this year’s winners, he and C3’s Claire Habel appeared on WINA to discuss the event. Woods said, “We want to make it a point to be good stewards of our setting and our property, not only in our landscapring and land use but also in our classrooms and business decisions.”

The competition allowed the School to highlight our work from recent years, such as installing LED lights and energy efficient windows in the dorms, continued work on land conservation practices, and developing a Sustainability Statement that is featured on the website.

Woods says this competition also gave the School the chance to pursue some new ideas: “One really exciting thing we were able to roll out this year was commercial composting for our dining hall. As a boarding school, during the year we’re serving 200 meals three times a day. Now we can redirect some of our dining hall waste to composting and reduce landfill waste and recycle that material.”