Bellingham’s Wellspring School is expanding this year with the addition of environmentally friendly building Eco House.

After several years of planning, renovating, and landscaping to three room house which will have solar generated electricity, a greenhouse, rain barrels and terraced garden will be ready for students. Even the flooring and paint used in the building our environmentally friendly.

The school which was founded by Laurie Riskin and Bill Snow came up with the idea after looking at what other cultures have been doing to help the environment. Eco House will be used for science classes with the garage being used for art. The school plans to open the facility to the public for workshops on sustainable systems, organic gardening, technology, and alternative power as well as the use of “green” products and LEAD architectural designs. Riskin and Snow hope that Eco House will be a model for the community.

In pursuit of their goals, WellSpring is researching grants to assist in the project development and seeking support and contributions from the “Green Building Industy”, local businesses, trades, and patrons of the environmental movement in the form of consultation, building supplies and materials, volunteer labor, and financial donations.