Education Law

Going green

From tree huggers to technology lovers, going green is not only easy but it saves money and the environment.  April 22, 2009 marked the 39^th Annual Earth Day and the second year in the Green Generation Campaign.  A two-year initiative hoping to inspire, inform, and mobilize a generation for change, where ordinary people engage in individual and collective activities to improve their health, to improve their schools, to participate in building a solution to urgent national and global issues, such as climate change or the world’s water crises.  From this initiative the challenge has grown for communities and individuals to become more active participants in the solution rather than the problem. 

Education is a key focus in the Green Generation Campaign.  The campaign provides valuable resources; an educators network, information on green schools, and grants programs.  The six areas of concentration for greener schools are facilities, food, recreation, transportation, and curricula and classroom.  Providing educators the access to resources from curricula to facilities design helps to propel environmental efforts in schools beyond green computing.  Green computing is the new big thing in education technology, with schools around the country cutting budgets and struggling to keep their teachers employed, going green offers cost savings and environmental preservation.  The challenge with going green is the savings isn’t always seen in the first year, it’s about long term sustainability for budgets and the environment.   If a school district is willing to invest up front in a greener lifestyle the long term savings will pay off in the long run. 

To help schools and communities take steps toward a more sustainable future National Geographic has now challenged America to use their creativity to make an impact on the environment.  The 5 best ideas will received $20,000 each, will be profiled in National Geographic and then flown to Washington DC to share their projects with environmental leaders.  What could your schools district and students do with $20,000?  How could they better their schools and community?  Take the challenge, get involved!

Visit the Green Effect website to learn more.  Make your community a greener, better place!

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on May 07, 2009 (boomark / email).