Eco-Audit (continued)


Redmond (Washington) High School A.P. Environmental Science students, whose efforts at greening their school through the Cool School Challenge won national recognition, took readily to the ECOoffice Program. Under the direction of Mike Town, a nationally recognized environmental educator, the stu- dents brought ECOoffice to Redmond Fire Stations, dubbing it THE FIRE HOUSE COOL DOWN CHALLENGE. The students also audited a Washington State Department of Ecology office located nearby.


Other educational institutions have implemented ECOoffice into their curriculum. Mindi Caulley, an instructor for Bellevue College Interior Sustainable Design Certificate Program, inte- grated ECOoffice into the Practical Applications for Interior Sus- tainable Design curriculum. Her students audited five Seattle area architectural firms. Ms. Caulley customized the final audit report to include observations about the interior sustainable design features and practices of the audited firms to better reflect the instruction level and criteria of the college level program. Eighth grade students with more guidance and supervision can implement the ECOoffice. The students at St. Madeleine Sophie School (Bellevue, Washington) conducted two audits this year under the guidance of Brian Fulmer, their instructor. The small class of ten eighth-grade students audited offices at two local universities. These students learned sustainable practices by teaching adults about sustainability; and are practicing what they preach by eliminating energy vampires at school and home, using cloth bags for shopping and drinking from reusable water containers instead of from individual plastic water bottles. ECOoffice is best suited for high school summer camp set- tings, when it is easier to schedule audits during the workday


ECOoffice can also be done by youth organizations and in-


dependent groups. This summer, two high school aged students conducted an audit at a business firm in downtown Seattle. These two students were “shadow trained” by two recent col- lege graduates trained to be ECOaudit USA mentors. After view-


The Fire House Cool Down Challenge: Redmond High School students audit City of Redmond Fire Stations.


ing a training power point and a brief overview of the program, the high school students audited the business with their mentors “shadowing” them to give guidance when needed. Twenty – four Tacoma School of the Arts Science (TSA) students took ECOoffice to “Main Street USA” by auditing six neighboring shops and businesses; such as two coffee shops, a popcorn shop, a clothing store and a restaurant; helping them reduce their carbon footprint. Their instructors were Mike Hagmann and Melissa Moffitt and mentored by Mike Wierusz of ECOaudit USA. The feedback from the Tacoma School (TSA) was very gratifying. One Tacoma School of the Arts student wrote; “It’s helped me to be more aware of my behavior as a consumer and how I affect the environment.” Comments such as this, underscores ECOaudit USA’s primary emphasis of educating the next generation’s leaders to have a sustainable ethos. If students change their behavior as a result of participating in ECOoffice; then ECOaudit USA has accomplished its mission. If you are interested in learning more about the ECOoffice


Program and the ECOaudit USA organization, please contact Mike Wierusz at mikew@ecoauditusa.org.


A high school student conducts an employee survey under the watchful eyes of his ECOaudit USA mentor.


without having to worry about the students’ class schedules or sports activities. Katie Fleming, from ReSources for Sustainable Communities, conducted a summer workshop for ten high school students enrolled in Western Washington University’s College Explorations Program. Her students audited four college depart- ments at Western Washington University (Bellingham, WA).


Page 50 www.clearingmagazine.org/online CLEARING 2010


Mary Daniels volunteers on the ECOaudit USA Program Devel- opment Team. She also serves on the Board of Directors for Urban Green and on the Career and Technical Joint Advisory Committee for Environmental Sciences at Lake Washington and Northshore School Districts.


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