Pre-K to College Eco-Lessons
San Francisco was the fi rst city in the nation to put green bins in school cafeterias. Currently, more than 85 percent of its schools participate in SF Environment’s Food to Flowers! lunchroom composting program. Leftover food and empty milk cartons are turned into compost, and then sold to area farmers. Schools can receive free compost for their own gardens.
The Alliance to Save Energy, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofi t, conducts a PowerSave Schools Program that teaches kids how to conduct energy audits at school and home. Participating schools typically realize 5 to 15 percent reductions in energy costs, and students learn math and science skills.
The National Wildlife Federation shows K–12 students how they can actively support nature by establishing schoolyard wildlife habitats. Pupils evaluate the environment, make a plan and then implement it. They can grow food and create shelter for wildlife such as bird feeders and baths and observe
the results. A habitat can be as small as 20 square feet or as large as students are able to maintain.
In Tennessee, Ivy Academy Chattanooga strives to integrate nature into every class, with many sessions taught outdoors in the nearby forest. Pupils also work with the region’s forestry division to treat diseased hemlocks and monitor growth, then upload the information to the Smithsonian. Daily hikes improve fi tness and emphasize how alternative means of travel reduce the harmful impacts of burning fossil fuels. Many students walk to school while several teachers run up to 10 miles to class.
Schools should be as clean as possible to prevent the spreading of germs, but traditional cleaning agents contain harmful chemicals. Makers of the ZONOsanitech machine attest that it kills nearly all common bacteria and viruses and meets U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards. Using super oxygen (ozone) and less than
eight ounces of water per day, the ZONO can clean and sanitize most types of school furniture and materials within 30 minutes, while drawing less than three cents worth of electricity.
“Studies show that 70 percent of ambient air pollution comes from diesel emissions alone,” says Ron Halley, vice president of fl eet and facilities at Student Transportation of America (STA), of Wall, New Jersey, with offi ces in America and Canada. “STA will have a fl eet of more than 1,000 alternative-fueled school buses operating in California, Minnesota, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Texas this coming school year.” Propane- powered buses emit virtually no particulate matter. STA estimates a savings of more than $2,600 per year for each bus with the use of propane; it historically costs 30 percent less than diesel fuel. Omaha, Nebraska public schools have 435 propane-fueled buses, so the fuel and maintenance savings could exceed a million dollars annually. “Omaha Public Schools’ buses will also reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2.3 million pounds a year,” says Halley.
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