Ecology Club -
Start a club for students interested in environmental
issues. We prepared some ideas for you to help get
you started. Existing environmental clubs may also
find suggestions to assist in their projects.
Cash for Reusable Resources
Collection of empty inkjet cartridges from computer printers is
one way to raise funds while helping the environment.
It's
estimated that around 200 million empty cartridges are thrown into the
trash and end up in landfills each year. Have an on-going drive
for collecting these valuable reusable resources. Click into
InkBank
and let them help you turn computer trash into cash.
Promote
recycling and hold recycling drives
You can check
with your area garbage / disposal services and computer -related stores
to see what programs and services they offer for recycling.
Look through our recycling links and familiarize
yourself with the subject. Most everything is
recyclable in some way.
Whether you earn money by recycling or not, you will
be performing a valuable service by helping to keep hazardous
materials and items that can be recycled out of our landfills and
the environment.
The Green Squad
- Kids taking action for greener, healthier schools
Take an online school tour and mouse over items to see
if the "Enviro-Meter" will alert you to a problem.
There is even a printable Progress Report to help you
track problems as they occur. Then take a tour of your
own school and see if there are any problems you can
discover.
Alliance to Save Energy
- "Reducing energy use is an effective way to help cash-strapped
schools funnel more money into the classroom instead of the
local utility." Links are provided to Green Schools Program
and other resources to save energy at school.
Kids Recycle!
Tools for Zero Waste Schools (K-12 and college campuses)
Information and resources for kids and for teachers (see links
on left side of page).
School
Environmental Assessments are Saving Schools Money
Many schools have
realized significant savings in energy costs by analyzing their
energy consumption and finding ways to reduce power usage and
utilize sustainable alternative sources of energy.
Replacing styrofoam cups with alternative products,
and putting in energy-consuming lighting are some of
the ways schools have saved money. (look
through links for
Energy Checkups, or your local power company may have an energy-audit
program that could be helpful).
Environmental Audit for Schools - Guide and
suggestions for creating and conducting an environmental
audit for your school (opens in a Word document).
Includes step-by-step instructions. Your
school/teacher may want to use this as a class or
ecology club project. A creative problem solving
approach could be used in the development and solution
process. (Provided by Australian Government's ReefEd
site)
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See if you
can come up with some ideas for saving
money, or suggestions for changing to
products that are more earth-friendly. |
Environmental
Education and Mentoring Programs
Schools could enlist assistance from area environmental scientists who
are willing to come and speak to the total school body or
community forums to discuss local environmental issues.
Possibly environmental scientists could serve as school or class
mentors. You might inquire at your local universities and
colleges, or governmental environmental agencies for assistance
in this area.
Student Participation in Local Government
With adult and teacher guidance,
important areas where young people can learn what's going on
locally and have a voice in community affairs are in attending county and city boards
of supervisors meetings when environmental issues are on the
agenda. Also, student groups can write formal letters of request
to these governing bodies to have local environmental issues
placed on agendas. Student groups can request being placed on
the agenda to present their concerns about local problems and
their ideas for solutions towards reducing or alleviating local
environmental hazards and damage. They can request more bike
paths for safety purposes and to reduce automobile use. They can promote sustainable
communities and good planning for development. If your city and county do not have "environmental
councils," students could work towards helping establish
them and having youth represented as council members.
As young people become
more knowledgeable about global and national issues, they can
track voting records of their government representatives and
discuss this information with parents and voting members of
their households.
What you can do at school to help the environment
Suggestions for fostering respect for the environment
and ideas to help save biodiversity. (Conservation
International)
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