Want a Green School? Check Out “Cool the Earth”

Can you tell I’m deep in preparations for the start of school? I’ve been wrestling with how to extend our efforts to green our family to helping create a green school environment. And I want to do this in a way that really is helpful to the school.

Our eldest began kindergarten last fall so I don’t have a lot of experience dealing with schools as a parent. We tried several schools before we found the right fit, which didn’t occur until the end of February, so I have even less experience with our current school. We love, love, love the school’s approach to teaching, the teachers, and the other families but are still learning how the business of the school is structured.

We received our student supply lists and my initial reactions fell into four categories. For items like pencils and notebook paper, I immediately started thinking about products that would be more eco-friendly, like pencils made from recycled wood and recycled paper. Other items came with very precise descriptions, leaving me to wonder if Fiskar scissors were really needed or if the non-Fiskar scissors we already have would suffice. A quick conversation with the teacher will resolve these issues and, since the school has encouraged folks to use items already on hand, I think I know how it will go.

Then came the items that I would prefer not to purchase but will because I understand why they are helpful in a group of small children – things like tissues are included here since I just don’t see 10 kids with hankies working out well during the winter. The last category is where I am struggling. The supply lists for both of my kids included plastic zip lock bags – one box for the youngest and two for the eldest. That means 10 boxes of plastic bags will be used one classroom and 20 boxes in another for a total of 600 plastic bags just for their classes! The very thought of that makes me feel ill.

I started looking around for information and ideas to help me begin a positive discussion aimed at creating a green school. Or at least a greener one! Along the way, I found Cool the Earth. Their program is so, well, cool that I wanted to share it.

Cool the Earth is

a grassroots, school-to-home program that provides climate change education through action. We engage kids and their families to take simple, measurable actions that collectively make a significant impact on global warming.

The program is volunteer-based so parents can shoulder most of the burden rather than asking (already busy) teachers or school administrators to take on an additional task. The program is comprised of:

• A Kick-Off Assembly to get things started.
• Action Coupons that allow families to take an action, turn in a coupon, and get a reward.
• Action Spotlights to highlight a particular action.
• An Action Banner so everyone in the school to see how all their actions add up to make a big difference.
• Team Assembly, which is simply creating the group that implement the program.

I love that the suggested actions are ones that families could implement together and that the program concentrates on what each individual can do to make a difference. I was also happy to see that the materials are available in English, Mandarin, and Spanish.

So far 204 schools are using the program and they have a saved a combined 50,315,555 pounds of carbon dioxide.

I’m still trying to figure out how best to talk with our school about the plastic bags and some other ideas I have to make it a green school (vermiculture is high on my list!). Do you have any suggestions?

In the meantime, I’m planning to start the discussion with a proposal to bring Cool the Earth to my girls’ school. I want to help make my kids’ school a green school. How about you?

This post was include in the Carnival of the Green at Recycle Your Day.

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