As senior Parker Reposa is preparing for the world beyond high school, he’s also paying close attention to the footprints he leaves behind at Sage. That is, his carbon footprints. Starting his sophomore year, Parker set forth on a mission to bring the campus gradually up to speed with the eco-friendly initiative that he believes is growing not only in California, but in the entire international community. He calls it the Green Up Sage Initiative.

“I have always had a deep appreciation for our natural resources and a keen predilection towards alternative energy,” he explained. “I thought it was a no brainer to start a movement that started advocating for the environment.”

So how exactly does a high school student promote sustainability and renewable living? Once deciding to embark on his “Green Crusade,” Reposa began to formally map out his intentions during his junior year when he began talking with his adviser John Bicking about his plans. “Mr. Bicking has helped me greatly throughout my entire time at Sage,” he said, “He is my adviser and a great mentor. He has connected me with vendors and contractors that can help get this initiative rolling for the near future. Mr. Bicking and I make a good team.”

Together with Bicking, Reposa was able to introduce five reusable, filtered water stations around the campus in the first couple of months of this very school year.

“These fountains promote reusable water bottles that save a large amount of plastic consumption,” Reposa said. He also advocated for the switch from the incandescent light bulbs to LEDs in all of the campus buildings that help save both large amounts of energy and money.

But Reposa isn’t finished just yet. He has more plans for the future in order to keep Sage as green as it can be. “In the future I want to get Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in the parking lot, and most importantly, implement a solar array (photovoltaic panels) on The Studio and gym roofs and potentially the parking lot.” With the increasing numbers of electric cars and the use of solar panels, Reposa’s plans may be in the near future.

“Basically, it is my goal to promote a general respect and understanding of sustainability and renewable living within our Sage community. There are so many cool, innovative ways to conserve resources and produce renewable energy while also saving money!”

Reposa, while also advocating his Green Up Sage Initiative, plays on the varsity baseball team and has already verbally committed to play for Middlebury College (Vermont). A passionate photographer, he also founded the Shutter Stories Program, a project that works to bring the beauty and creativity of storytelling photography to children everywhere.