Programs & Priorities: Environmental Stewardship

Protecting Lake Champlain – Vermont’s greatest natural resource.

The health and responsible stewardship of the lake is vital to the cultural and economic development of our community. This core belief guides us in program development and delivery to adhere to our mission of Lake Access. Life Lessons. For All. We incorporate stewardship elements into all of our programs and operations to enhance environmental learning opportunities and community engagement in sustainability.
These are just some examples of stewardship practices at the CSC:

Youth Camps

In every youth program students participate in experiential lessons that connect them to the lake’s ecosystem and history. These lessons connect lake health issues with every individual. These activities include waterfront cleanups, testing measures of water quality off the dock, and playing games that teach campers about Lake Champlain ecology.

Education Programs

Our Floating Classrooms program is a school year-long place-based STEM and sailing program that works with local 3rd-5th grade elementary school students. Students visit the Sailing Center in the fall and spring to sail and participate in science lessons about the Lake Champlain watershed, ecology, geology, engineering, earth’s systems, and sustainability. In the winter in between sailing sessions, the Education Manager continues the Sailing Center’s engagement with these schools by visiting and teaching additional science lessons.

Events

In collaboration with the Rozalia Project and the Conservation Law Foundation, we host waterfront cleanups to remove marine debris from the watershed before it makes it into the lake. Once the cleanup is complete, data is taken on the different types of debris, which the Rozalia Project logs in a database.

With the support of 11th Hour Racing, we also provide a Zip 2 Water mobile filtration system to reduce waste and encourage refillable water bottle usage.

Transportation

With support from Outdoor Gear Exchange we were able to build a bike rack for our facility, encouraging users to minimize their carbon footprint by biking or walking to the Center.

Facilities

Our new, award-winning, Net-Zero Community Waterfront Campus and Sailing Education Center was designed with sustainability in mind throughout.

For more information, please email info@communitysailingcenter.org or call (802) 864-2499.